The Student Life
by PaperCity7
Summary: When Persephone is forced to leave her lazy city and join the high school of a small town, she is not too happy. She misses her old friends and wishes that she could just go home. She hates the cheerleaders, the jocks, the teachers and she even hates the gorgeous boy down the street who continues to fight for her love - A Modern take on Persephone
1. Shield

Persephone fiddled with the controller in her hands as she watched the screen flash colours.

It had been nearly two weeks since they arrived here in this god forsaken town called Asphodel and Persephone still hated it.

She hated the small buildings, the stretched out streets and how it was windy almost every single day.

She remembered her mother coming in that early Sunday morning and telling her they were going to move. Naturally, she threw a fit but there was nothing Persephone could do.

She shoved her friend's pictures in her bag along with her old soccer medals from elementary and gave everyone a final goodbye. There was no big party for her but she did get a couple of hugs from fellow students on her last day.

She also still remembered ripping her old Spiderman posters off the walls of her room and driving away from their apartment building one last time with her mother.

She wished she could go back, she really did but sadly for her that would most likely never happen and now she was lying on the couch watching TV while she sobbed and ate from a huge bag of chips, gripping the pictures of her old friends.

"Persephone, stop moping around and maybe go outside for once!" Demeter walked in with a laundry hamper in her hands. Her brown hair was mattered up into a weird form of a bun and she looked almost disappointed and saddened by her daughter.

"And do what? School hasn't started yet, I have no friends." She chocked out the last part and changed the channel. Rubbing at her tear stricken face, she rolled up the bag of potato chips and set it down beside her before curling up into the huge white blanket that was hanging off the couch.

"You can gain friends from doing other things, not just school." Demeter said sympathetically and walked away with the laundry hamper.

Persephone looked outside and thought about her mother's words. It was a beautiful day out and it seemed like plenty of people were outside.

Almost _too_ many people.

Persephone kept looking out for a few more minutes before turning her attention back to the TV, noticing the channel had changed into a new show called _Ghost Adventures_. Confused, she turned up the volume and listened to the narrator explain the show a bit before they started to investigate some old hospital.

Persephone never really liked anything paranormal or horror but the show seemed to draw her in somehow. It was hard to hear with the washing machine going and her mother's humming so whenever the crew claimed they heard something she would always get disappointed that she didn't hear it as well.

Demeter walked back into the room and took off her slippers before sitting down next to Persephone who was still huddled in her large blanket. Her mother seemed to be studying the show before she leaned down and picked up her Kobo from the coffee table.

"You don't actually believe in this stuff, do you?" Demeter mumbled out, attention now on her book more than the TV.

"No, it's just interesting." Persephone hummed out and watched as the main guy stared into the camera, telling the viewer that they were about to get locked up in the hospital for a whole night.

"Don't you think he's cold?" Demeter's eyes now and then would flick up to the TV but she didn't really follow.

"What?" Persephone looked at her confused.

"The main guy, he only has a shirt on and the lights are out in the hospital which means no heating." Her mother pointed at the screen limply before turning back to her book.

"I don't know, mom. He's attractive and people like attractive guys who go after ghosts okay? Gains them viewers or something like that." Persephone was getting annoyed and just wanted to watch the show but her mother didn't seem to notice.

"Guys also like girls who go out into the sun and do things other than watch fake ghost shows all day." Demeter smirked and saw her daughter flail her arms around in annoyance before she turned off the TV.

"What are you doing?" She put down her Kobo and watched as Persephone tied her light brown hair in a ponytail and slipped on a light sweater.

"I'm gonna go join a brotherhood and jump off some buildings." She muttered out sarcastically before swinging the front door open.

She was surprised that it was warm out since it was still morning and quickly closed the door. She took in a deep breath before walking down her front steps and onto the sidewalk where a child was busy drawing pictures with chalk.

She felt a bitter feeling of guilt and felt bad for talking rudely to her mother but she had been so stressed lately and she hoped that Demeter understood that. She wasn't used to going to new towns or even to new schools for that matter.

Sure summer vacation was still going but not for very much longer and when it ended, she had no idea how she would face her new school.

She kept thinking about it and walked for a very long amount of time, not even bothering to say good morning to the other people when she noticed that she had somehow managed to get to a part of town she did not know.

There were shops aligned down the street and she quickly made her way over. The first set of stores were restaurants that seemed a little sketchy so she stayed far away from those, the next few were things like the lawyer's and some arts and crafts center but it wasn't till she noticed a small music school on the very corner that she stopped to peak in the window.

She saw a boy around her age with striking golden hair playing the violin. His eyes were closed, thank God but she wondered how he could play knowing that people could watch him from the streets. Not wanting to be there when he opened his eyes, she made her way over to the public library which was on the next street over.

She looked around and realised how small it actually was and yearned to go back to her old city. Breathing out a sigh of dismay she wandered around and noticed a huge group of children doing crafts in the main area. She smiled as they cut and glued away at their paper like it was a delicate art.

Moving passed them; she made her way into the novels and began to skim the shelves. There were things like poetry and romance but her eyes immediately stuck to a big thick one.

Reaching for the shelf she grabbed a book that was all too _familiar_ to her.

_The Complete Brothers Grim Fairy Tales_

Eager, she reached up and quickly snatched it away from the shelf and started to flick through the pages as she made her way back towards the entrance where she signed out the book.

Luckily enough for her, Demeter had dragged her here to get a library card when they first arrived so she didn't have to worry about that.

She made her way back outside and quickly made her way home, the large book thumping lazily in her purse as she ran up the steps towards the door and quickly went inside.

"Oh, you're home." Demeter sat down her mop and made her way over to Persephone who was shaking off her sweater.

She just nodded before quickly heading towards her room and collapsed on her large green bed. She could still hear the birds singing and she reached down towards her purse, digging out the rather large book.

She read and read until it was dark outside and her eyes hurt a ton. If it wasn't for her contacts she would have passed out long ago but she made sure to take them out.

She rested on her back and laid the book flat against her chest, almost hugging it.

Closing her eyes she slowly began to drift off to sleep but then she heard someone walking outside her window.

Leaning up with her back still pressed to the wall, she pressed her face against the cold window and noticed a figure walking along the streets.

He had black hair and she could tell he was extremely tall. She noticed that he had no shirt on and that his pants hung loosely on his hips.

Persephone immediately blushed but then noticed a girl skip up to him who was in a bikini and grip onto him.

She saw that they were both dripping wet and she realised that they must have been at the pool which wasn't too far from here.

"Of course, he would have a girl hanging off of him." She grumbled out and slumped back on the bed. She hated this town already. What kind of girl runs around in a bikini at night? Groaning out she threw her book down onto the ground and went to sleep.

Like things could get any worse.

_Two Weeks Later_

"Come on, Persephone! It's time for school!"

Groaning out, Persephone slammed on her clock like it had just personally offended her and slowly drifted up from her bed. She only brushed her hair for a few moments before slipping on a loose pair of jeans and a baggy shirt that she had gotten from camp. She was extremely nervous and when she slipped on her backpack she nearly fell over from the weight, body shaking.

"It's okay, Honey. The first day is just a lot of introduction, nothing hard." Demeter helped Persephone steady herself and handed her a brown paper bag full of food.

"Sorry, don't know if you have a cafeteria there or not." She smiled and patted Persephone's back lightly. She felt like she was in elementary again where her mom used to pack her lunches all the time.

She thanked Demeter nonetheless and slowly walked outside where the weather was still warm and breezy.

Her eyes drifted over towards their car and debated a bit before deciding that she would walk. It would be better to not get into a car accident on her first day to school.

As she walked she noticed other kids as well making their way and she followed the crowd towards the large school.

She was thankful that it was near the swimming pool so therefor near to her house or else she would have most likely have gotten lost and all hell would have broken loose.

Once she walked in she noticed how tall the ceiling was and that the gym was placed right near the entrance. Shivering, she looked at her schedule and realised that her first class was Math.

"Great…" She grumbled out and started to make her way through the hallways, taking note of all the door's numbers.

She started to get that feeling where everyone is glaring at you but you know they are probably not. Still, she didn't like it and quickly found her classroom.

There was only one student in the class other than her and she wondered for a moment if she was in the wrong room before the teacher walked up to her and shook her hand.

"Ah, you must be Persephone! Welcome, welcome. This is Aphrodite – she will be your guide for today so I made sure she got here extra early." The teacher smiled warmly and gestured over to the other student in the class.

"Yaaay…" She said sarcastically, blew a bubble with her gum and looked over at Persephone.

Persephone noticed right away that the girl was simply gorgeous and felt a pang of jealousy before sitting down next to her. She tried not to compare herself to other people but it was really difficult, especially when you have girls like this Aphrodite strutting around.

"So… Have you been going here a long time?" Persephone tried to start a conversation but the way Aphrodite was checking her Facebook on her phone made her feel unwanted.

"Yep."

Persephone huffed back in her chair, not too entirely sure what else to say when other students started filling into the room. She noticed the boy she had saw in the music school and immediately shrunk back into her seat, not knowing if he had saw her that day or not.

The class started regardless and Persephone saw that Aphrodite was still on her phone, sorting through pictures now which were probably of her during the summer.

"Persephone?" The teacher called out and quickly she looked back up at the elderly man who seemed to be looking at her with some concern.

"Would you like to introduce yourself?" He smiled and Persephone looked around nervously, noticing how everyone was watching her.

Slowly, she stood up from her seat and started to fiddle with her hands, looking around at all the unfamiliar faces.

"Um, I'm Persephone." She said nervously and saw that the Math Teacher was urging her to continue. Flustered, she tried to think of other things to say.

"My mother is a florist and we just came recently from a really big city in the south so it's nice to be in a small town for once." She lied through her teeth and quickly sat down, eager to get out of everyone's attention. They just all nodded and she could hear Aphrodite pop another bubble to break the awkward silence.

The rest of the class was just like how Demeter said it would go: full of instructions and introductions but she could feel people staring at her through the entire thing. She tried to remind herself that she would stare at new kids too when she was in the city so she calmed down a bit but she barely paid any attention through the whole thing.

The teacher drawled on about what they would learn this year and Persephone watched as the time slowly flickered on when finally an hour had passed. She was still shaking from when she had to give out her name and talk about herself for a minute. It was embarrassing but nobody really seemed to care or give much emotion which was good. The bell finally rang like it was god given gift and everyone rushed out of the classroom, eagerly.

Aphrodite walked up to her and pulled out a large sheet of paper before squinting around like something was blinding her baby blue eyes.

"We have P.E next…" She grumbled out and looked over to the large gym. People were already rushing in and Persephone rushed over as well but Aphrodite seemed to lug behind her at her own pace.

-o-

The gym teacher was on steroids, Persephone was sure of it. His arms were the size of machine guns and his stomach was rippled with muscle. He declared that they would be playing Dodge Ball today as a warm up and everyone let out a groan at the same time.

Persephone was numbered off and given a jersey which smelled like the devil himself had sweated into it. Taking in a breath she heaved it onto herself and noticed that the other students on her team were wearing the same jersey as her, all smelling them with detest.

It wasn't till a ball was thrown at her that she had realised the game had begun. Looking around frantically she grabbed a ball and whipped it blindly at the other side of the gym.

Who ever invented this game needed to die a slow and painful death.

She found Aphrodite on her team and saw that she was laying down on the ground, blonde hair flustered around her as she continued to surf on her phone.

"What version of dodge ball is this?!" Persephone screamed out as another ball flew at her, limbs flailing around as she ran around.

"Doctor." Aphrodite called out but then Persephone felt someone grab onto her jersey and drag her closer to Aphrodite, all the while screaming out,

"Human shield!" Repeatedly .

From the voice she could tell it was a boy dragging her towards Persephone. He reached out to touch her so she could get back into the game but she just stayed there, on the ground.

"Come on, Aphrodite! I'm gonna get hit!" Persephone wanted to correct the guy behind her and say,

"no, I am going to get hit," but didn't so he continued to use her as a shield, reaching for Aphrodite with all his might.

Finally, she limply reached out for him as well and slowly got up from the ground, only to get hit by another ball.

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!" She heard him scream out but then the teacher called for the game to stop. Everyone froze and then quickly put their balls away. Persephone felt the grip on her jersey loosen and turned the boy behind her.

"Sorry about that… I hate being the doctor." He smiled meekly at her before shaking her hand with enthusiasm.

"I'm Hermes, by the way. You're Persephone, right? I was in your math class." He laughed and started to head towards the exit with Persephone tagging along with him.

"Hey, want to eat lunch with me?" He threw his jersey into the pile with the others and Persephone did the same. She blushed and noticed that he was actually kind of cute in a weird sort of annoying sense.

"Sure." She smiled back at him.

Hermes had honestly been the highlight of her day so far, he was a much better host than Aphrodite was and Persephone wasn't even too sure where the blonde was for that matter.

He talked about how he was in the track and field club and that she should join but she softly declined. Persephone was surprised that it was already lunch but didn't care. Just as long as it means classes were almost done for today and that she got to eat.

One day down – only two more years to go.

**A/N **Thank you for reading! If you were wondering what "Doctor Dodge ball" is for some reason, its just like Dodge ball except if you get out you just sit on the ground while the "Doctor" has to touch you so you can get back into the game. If you noticed any spelling errors just PM me and I'll get right on that! Don't worry, I wont be like "OMFG YOU DISSED MY STORYHGTHSOUIEGHSEUIGRE" no worries there.

Thank you!


	2. Ice Cream

The next couple of days weren't as bad as the first. The week slowly got older before finally it was Friday, god's gift to man.

Persephone was happy to see Hermes there, waiting for her by the doors. He told her about how he managed to play eight hours of Xbox last night without passing out once. He seemed proud about it so she congratulated him.

"I don't even feel tired. It's so weird." He laughed as they walked inside the school, looking around at the various students. They managed to make it to their first class where Aphrodite was sitting but this time talking to some blonde guy instead of her phone.

Her eyes seemed to flicker from him up to Persephone and Aphrodite smiled at her.

"Persephone! I was just talking about you. Sorry, I was so grumpy yesterday, I got like no sleep." She giggled and Persephone slowly sat down in her desk, weirded out. She knew Hermes was about to tell Aphrodite that he probably got less sleep than she did and brag about his video game so she quickly began to talk.

"No that's fine. I have those days as well." Persephone smiled and the boy who was talking to Aphrodite slid around in his desk, trying to look at the new girl.

Persephone saw that he was very muscular and got a feeling that he had all A's in gym already. His eyes were a very sharp colour of blue and his white shirt seemed to hug closely to his torso like any girl would want to.

"Oh I'm sorry. This is Ares, my boyfriend." Aphrodite quickly introduced the boy and he smiled up at her, blue eyes captivating her green ones. It was like a magnetic pull that she couldn't walk away from but then she felt a slight jab at her arm and she looked over to see Hermes staring at her.

Wanting to break the awkward moment, Persephone quickly started to talk.

"It's very nice to meet you Ares." He smiled back, revealing gorgeous white teeth before nodding his head and turned back to Aphrodite.

The class quickly started and Persephone was once again watching the clock, counting down until the bell would ring. She didn't know why but the hours seemed to be very long here, something she didn't like at all.

Finally the class ended after what seemed like several hours of lecture and two minutes of actual work. She walked out with Hermes but as they neared their next class he stopped in front of her swiftly, blocking her path.

Confused, Persephone just crossed her arms in front of her.

"Look, I'm not trying to be the overly protective guy but Ares is no good. He's like the Ezio of this school, all he does is break people, mentally and physically." Hermes was all business now but looked worried.

"Stop using video game terminology, I have no idea what you are saying." Persephone coughed out and looked behind him, glad that class hadn't started yet.

"He's a heartbreaker, a womanizer, the one night stand type of guy." Hermes listed them out slowly like he wanted to drill this into Persephone's head.

"Okay, I don't know why you are so worried. I didn't think he was that cute anyways." She lied and kept walking with Hermes tagging along with her.

She knew he was just trying to be helpful but she can protect herself. Persephone wasn't the type of girl to fall in love daily but she did have her infatuations like any other person.

She wondered if Aphrodite really was that friendly or if it was because Ares was around and she wanted to look good in front of him.

Shrugging it off, she decided to head to her next class which then lead to lunch.

She was happy as her and Hermes skipped towards the cafeteria – both excited to finally get food. Once they saw that they were selling pizza as a treat, they nearly tripped on several chairs, five people and budged in line twice.

Once their battle was over, they both sat down at the nearest table with their victory pizza on their plates. Persephone was about to take a huge bite of hers when Hermes started to talk.

"So what do you think of Asphodel?" He held up his soda can like it was a microphone and leaned closer, his converse shoes barely touching the ground now.

Persephone laughed and slapped the soda away lightly before pursing her lips in thought.

"I don't know. I just really miss my old city so it's hard to say I like this town. I barely know anyone." She breathed out and slumped back in her chair, brown hair fluttering around. Hermes seemed to be stroking his nonexistent beard as if in thought then sharply turned around in his desk, looking at all the other students.

"Well you know, Aphrodite and Ares… That's Zeus, the one who is practically bathing in cheerleaders right now and over to his right is his brother Poseidon." Hermes pointed to the various figures as he spoke and Persephone had to agree about the cheerleader thing. She nodded and made note that she would have to meet them later, that is if Zeus wasn't drowning in girls by that times.

"I wouldn't get too close with Zeus either, Seph… He and Ares are good friends if you know what I mean." Hermes took a bite out of his pizza and Persephone gasped.

"They're gay?" Her green eyes went wide and Hermes slapped his forehead.

"No, I meant they are both working in the same field. Like they both want girls just for the sake of having girls." Hermes grumbled out but then looked at the clock before nearly freezing in his spot.

"Shit, I'm late!" He stumbled out of his seat, scrambling for his messenger bag.

"For what?" She tried to help him, handing his binders and various books that seemed more like comics than anything.

"Track and Field practice but I promise I'll meet back up with you today, K? Maybe we can go out for ice cream or something – I'll make it up to you." And with that, he grabbed his piece of pizza and lunged away, nearly skidding and slipping into a pillar before shoving himself towards the doors.

By the time he left, Persephone's hair was a whirlwind of brown from his frantic movements and she was still stunned on what just happened. No wonder he was in track and field…

Looking back, Persephone noticed that he had left a book on the table. It was a slim green one that looked well taken care of. There was nothing on the front and nothing on the back so she slightly opened it, curious.

She noticed there was a sketch on the front page and then opened it completely, noticing how well the drawing actually was. It was a person she did not recognize but there was something scribbled next to it.

_By Apollo_

Confused, she realised that this wasn't Hermes book but someone else's - Someone by the name Apollo. She tucked the sketchbook in her backpack and made note that she would have to find this Apollo person and see if it was really his. She wondered why Hermes had it but she guessed that maybe he also was trying to get it back to its owner.

The bell rang and she quickly wolfed down her pizza before scrambling off to her next class.

The rest of the day was pretty normal but boring without Hermes there to make silly faces at her during class or to mouth jokes to her. She wish that she didn't have classes in the afternoon on Fridays like Hermes somehow managed to do every now and then but who knows how much he took last year.

When the day was done she slowly lugged herself out of the school with her backpack hanging limply on her shoulders. She swiftly picked out the green sketchbook again and flipped to the front page where the beautiful sketch of the person was still glued there – forever captured on a piece of parchment.

Looking around, she didn't know how she would find this Apollo person. Everyone was in a mingle of bodies, waiting for their buses or just conversing with their friends.

She heard someone walk over and stand beside her but it wasn't till the person popped a bubble and she instantly knew who it was.

"Aphrodite." She breathed, looking over to the blonde that was chewing at her gum almost violently. Persephone didn't really have the time to talk with her and actually just plain out didn't want to.

"What's that?" She jabbed a finger towards the green book and Persephone swiftly pulled it away – not wanting the blonde anywhere near it.

"Nothing." She grumbled out, annoyed as hell. Persephone looked down towards her boring black shoes, hopeful that Aphrodite would leave but she seemed to be in no hurry.

"Is it a diary?" She didn't sound that interested but Aphrodite still persisted on what the book was. Angered, Persephone just wailed her arms around in frustration.

"Look, I really don't have time for this. Do you know where I can find Apollo? Or what he even looks like?" Persephone was nearly pulling at her hair by this point. Between the large crowd of students and the annoying sound of Aphrodite's chewing, she was going to go utterly insane.

"Apollo?" Aphrodite's eyes seemed to glaze over like she was in sort of a dreamy state, it wasn't till her phone started going off that she shook out of her zone and looked back to Persephone.

"You'll find him in the band room. I swear to god he sleeps there." And with that she was back on her phone, probably flirting with Ares.

Persephone just grumbled and stalked off back to the school where she got lost nearly twice before heading into the band room. She heard soft music playing and recognized it as a piano but couldn't make out what the song was, probably something classical from hundreds of years ago.

Peeking into the room, she noticed a boy playing alone in and she slowly crept in, scared if she should interrupt him or not.

She stood there awkwardly for a couple of minutes, hoping that he would stop the song but she got impatient.

Persephone decided that she would have to do this sooner or later, so she made up her mind.

She walked up to him and slowly tapped his shoulder and he flipped, his arms slammed down on the piano with surprise and whirled around to see Persephone holding up the green sketchbook like some sort of shield.

His chest heaved heavily but he slowly calmed down, combing back his wavy hair he tried to gain his composure.

"You scared me." He muttered out but then slowly took the book from her hands, almost gently. He started to flip through the pages and let out a sigh.

"What did Hermes want with your book?" She asked, leaning a bit closer to see the pages but then he opened it wide for her to see and showed her a page with a picture of a beautiful girl standing in an orange dress.

Except one thing was off – there was a moustache drawn crudely onto the girls upper lip.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry."

"No, its fine, we prank each other all the time and I can just erase it." He shrugged and sat the sketchbook back down on the piano.

"So you are Persephone? Thanks for getting my stuff back." He smiled and slumped back on the piano bench.

"No problem. My mom likes drawing too and I know how personal it can be." She laughed and started to head back towards the exit, happy the chase was over but as she neared the door but Apollo swiftly called out for her.

"Hermes was looking for you. Practice is over but he's probably out in the field chatting up the team." He smirked, turned back towards the piano and started playing the piece again.

Persephone just awkwardly nodded and quickly left Apollo to his playing. She jogged down the halls and quickly went outside.

Apollo was right, she saw Hermes sitting with a group of guys, all sweaty and ruffled from running.

The field was surrounded by a gate so she slowly walked up, trying to get his attention without disrupting anything but she failed miserably.

One guy alerted the other guy of the oncoming female and they all scrambled to get their composure. She saw a confused looking Hermes looking around before meeting her eyes.

He laughed, patted the other guys backs and ran over to the gate and instantly started to climb it before jumping back down in front of her, a smile ablaze on his face.

"There was a gate right there." She laughed, nodding towards the little opening that was only a few meters away.

"I'm too cool for gates." He smoothed his hair back and slowly started to walk with her, back over towards the school where he quickly changed.

"I promised you ice cream, right?" He shrugged on his overly large sweater and looked around the school as if searching for something.

She nodded before slightly patting down his hair, it was like someone vigorously rubbed it with a balloon.

"Oh, let's go this way!" Suddenly he sounded very excited and started to walk towards a part of town Persephone had not been to yet. She quickly caught up with him, backpack lugging on her shoulders.

"So, why'd you take Apollo's book?" Although the pianist told Persephone not to worry about it, she was still a little curious and maybe even hurt that Hermes would do such a thing.

"You found that, huh?" He squinted his eyes against the blinding sun that was finally setting and Persephone shyly admitted to herself that he looked really nice right now. It was hard to stay angry at him sometimes.

"It's fine. We are brothers and that's what brothers do." He shrugged like it was a simple answer and Persephone looked at him confused.

"Apollo never mentioned that."

"Apollo fails to mention a lot of things." He laughed and suddenly took a sharp turn down a different street, one with more people.

"I guess you two kind of do look alike." Apollo being a little taller and maybe more feminine? She wasn't too sure, she would have to take a better look next time.

"Ah! Here we are." He dug into his pockets and quickly fished out some money before purchasing two ice creams. He handed one to her and sat down by a bench nearby where she quickly followed suit.

"It's really cheap here." She sat slumped against the bench, the sky dyed orange and the air smelled of summer. The little ice cream shop sat lazily in her vision, white and girly as ever.

"I'm friends with the guy that owns it. You'll probably see him around school sometime soon, his name is Eros." Instead of quickly devouring his pizza like earlier, he was actually taking the time to eat his treat as if he wanted to prolong this moment.

"I'm starting to wonder who you're NOT friends with." She smiled and tucked her legs up towards herself.

Hermes seemed to mutter something that sounded a lot like "Ares" but Persephone didn't say anything, she was too content with the vanilla substance in front of her.

"So what're you doing this weekend?" He looked over at her, hair flying in his face and into his mouth where he promptly spat it back out.

"I think I'm going shopping with my mom. She said she wanted to get some new school supplies and clothes for me." Hermes nodded at this before saying,

"You should get a swim suit." Confused, Persephone just slowly looked over at him like he had just asked her to go jump off a cliff.

"Why?" Seeing how she was a little upset at his request, he quickly bit his lip and started talking again.

"Aphrodite is having a beach party or something coming up. I thought you would like to come, get to know people." He looked at her but she just stared at the ground shyly before shrugging.

"Why? Have you never been swimming? Never worn a bathing suit? Bikini?" He laughed and focused back on his ice cream, waiting for a reply.

"Excuse me? I have swam before and I HAVE actually worn a bikini before so don't act like I'm some water virgin."

Hermes just looked at her with a straight face, making little eye contact.

"Pics or it didn't happen."

"Hermes!"

**A/N – sorry, I had really wanted to update on Sunday but then stuff happened ;A; - Thank you for all the nice reviews, they were so lovely~ I hope you enjoy this chapter – more to come! :D**


	3. Love Drug

When she opened her eyes her room was dull and grey where morning light should have been. No birds were chirping nor could she hear anybody walking along the sidewalk.

She didn't even have to lift herself and look out the window to know that it was raining outside. It would be fun driving to the mall with her mom today for sure.

Groaning, she got up and stumbled around before finding her brush. It was hard to concentrate so she brushed her ear a couple of times before finally getting to her hair which looked like strings of brown hay poking out in every direction.

She swung some clothes on and crashed in the bathroom for a couple of minutes before finally getting ready. She felt like zombie and the makeup barely covered the bags under her eyes but at least she didn't have to go to school today which was nice.

By the time Persephone had finally battled her way into the living room, her mother was already lounging on the couch reading her book per usual.

"G'morning." She slurred out. Persephone wasn't too sure what a hangover felt like but she was sure that it would be along this direction so she quickly gulped down some water before slumping back down on the couch.

"You look tired, what were you doing last night?" Demeter put down her book and reached for her purse and shoved some things inside.

"Oh, nothing." She coughed out and rubbed at her eyes.

She had actually been on the phone with Hermes for almost the entire night, listening to him scream as he played some game called Amnesia. Every time she was ready to hang up, he begged her to stay because apparently the game was scary and he didn't want to play alone.

She wondered how he was doing this morning but guessed that he was probably still sleeping away like she so desperately wanted to do.

"Well, let's get going before the mall starts to get really busy, K?" Demeter swung on her jacket and purse before slowly making her way to the door which Persephone repeated.

The two opened the door and Persephone took in a deep breath, smelling the fresh rain on the pavement and the pine trees that swirled around the house.

The air was chilling so she pulled her rain jacket closer to her thin body before scrambling after her mother into the car.

"So I didn't know Asphodel had a mall." Persephone looked out of her foggy window and rubbed at it, looking outside as they pulled out of the driveway and out onto the road.

"It doesn't, we're going to a mall that's in the city near here. Asphodel is way too tiny to ever get something like a McDonalds let alone a mall." Demeter snorted and kept driving which soon led them out of town and towards the country.

Persephone noticed that the countryside had very large hills which made the road twist and turn often, showing them different ranches and farms but mostly ranches.

As they passed one, she saw a boy trying desperately to get a horse inside a barn, rain thrashing down and beating on them both.

She swore he looked familiar but he had a large coat on which covered almost all of his face, desperately scrambling around and slipping on the mud as he fumbled to get the horse inside.

She wanted to see the outcome but they drove father away where she couldn't see anymore. She felt somewhat worried for the stranger but let it go, he seemed to know what he was doing for the most part.

"So have you made any friends?" Demeter finally spoke out, dragging Persephone's mind away from the drenched horse boy.

"Yeah, well I think so." Persephone poked at her phone gingerly, trying to make it pop up her email.

"What do you mean?" Demeter took another turn, splashing further on the roads as they went lower down the large hill.

"Well, I met this one guy, his name is Hermes and he's really kind and into running." Persephone blushed, not liking where this was going.

"Is he cute?"

"Mom!"

"Well, I'm sorry! You didn't have any male friends in your other school so it's interesting!" She huffed but grinned, clenching closer onto the wheel.

"I'm going to a swimming party so hopefully I'll get to know some more people there." Persephone mumbled, finally opening up her new messages.

"Well that's nice! As long as it's not one of those rowdy ones." Persephone shook her head at this. Hermes wouldn't invite her to some alcoholic party where everyone got trashed, it just didn't seem like his type of night but then again Aphrodite was hosting it.

Snapping out of her thoughts, she slowly looked up from her phone towards the country and noticed tall buildings looming off in the distance. Her stomach did a flip and she immediately started to feel homesick.

As they neared, more cars seemed to be on the road and it wasn't long till they were at the city, driving around with the countless cars and waiting for the numerous lights to turn green.

The city seemed very peaceful with the rain and numerous umbrellas floating around within the crowds, all bumping into one another as they tried to get out of the awful weather.

Her mother's GPS seemed abnormally bright within the dull car but soon they were at the mall with countless cars parked outside of it.

"Large mall." Persephone managed to whisper out and watched as they parked the car somewhat near the entrance.

"Yeah, I thought you might like it." Demeter smiled before rushing towards the back of the car and ripped out a large umbrella.

Persephone slowly got out of the car and shared the umbrella with her mother as the pair scrambled towards the mall, cars honking and splashing around beside them.

Once they got in, Demeter shook the umbrella furiously before rolling it up and shoving it into her extremely large purse.

"Alright, we'll split up and around noon we can meet up at some place. Don't get worried if you get lost – this place is one huge square." And with that, Demeter was gone, probably heading towards a tea shop or some home design store.

Dumbstruck, Persephone looked around. They were so many stores that she wasn't too sure what to do so she just started walking and dodged any person that tried to show off their product to her.

The place was filled with things like statues and themes which was cool but mind numbing as she tried to find her way. Her raincoat seemed to drag on her but finally she managed to buy a bikini and some other school stuff but it was almost time to meet up with Demeter again so she started to head back to the car and texted to meet up there.

Persephone started to walk slowly over to her car, lugging her shopping bags slowly along with her but then suddenly she felt someone tap her shoulder.

It took all her will power to not swing the bag over her shoulder and attack the oncoming person but as she turned around she lowered the shopping bag instantly.

Ares stood there with a huge smile on his face and with his hands shoved into his pockets. He was wearing a large jacket but his body still managed to look muscular underneath it.

"Ares? What are you doing here?" Persephone smiled and quickly got off the road over towards her car, Ares following along.

"Oh Aphrodite needed a ride to the mall." He shrugged, acting almost like he didn't want to talk about it so Persephone just nodded.

"So, you are going to her party next weekend?" For a split second she imagined Ares with nothing but his trunks on but then quickly brought herself back to reality.

"Yeah… Hey you want to go out for lunch?" He offered and leaned against the car.

Persephone looked down at her phone and wondered if her mother would be angry if she left but then again that would mean more time for Demeter to shop, right?

Right?

"Sure why not!" She laughed before quickly throwing her shopping bags in the car but keeping her purse on her. Ares' mood seemed to instantly brighten and he flashed another smile, standing straight back up.

"Do you have any places in mind?" She started to walk with him, away from the mall and towards the streets.

"Yeah, there is this awesome restaurant just a couple blocks from here, it's amazing!" She kept close to him, feeling his leather jacket rub against her cheek as the street lights flashed many colours as well as the sounds.

She wondered how Demeter was doing but brushed it off.

"So what were you doing at the mall?" He called out and quickly dodged a puddle.

"I was shopping for school." She replied, still keeping close to him as they bumped into crowds of people.

He just nodded and was looking into the stores at the walked along, almost like he was in deep thought.

Persephone followed along but suddenly Ares stopped and she nearly collided into him before looking up at the place in front of them. It resembled somewhat of a cabin and she could already smell food being cooked from inside.

Ares led her along and they both got seated almost instantly. The place had a very cozy feeling and she looked at all the decorations that littered the walls, feeling at ease.

Ares seemed like he was about to say something but then was swiftly cut off by an oncoming person.

She heard footsteps hitting the wooden floor and she looked up to see a boy and instantly blushed.

"Hah! Hey, Dionysus… You still working here?" Ares chuckled but Persephone wasn't paying attention anymore. She didn't want to admit that the boy was cute but he was definitely rivalling the jock sitting in front of her.

His eyes seemed to darken and he started to slowly hand out the menus, staying a safe distance away from the man.

"No, I just come here for fun and hand out food voluntarily." Sarcasm dripped from his voice and Ares' smile dropped, all business now.

The pair quickly ordered their drinks and Persephone couldn't help but watch him write out the order before stalking off and disappearing into the kitchen.

"Sorry, I think he was born with a stick up his ass… Thank god he doesn't go to our school though!" He laughed and shrugged off his jacket, setting it down on the chair next to him.

"What do you mean?" Persephone was a bit confused but her mind was still on the gorgeous boy or Dionysus, whatever his name was.

"He lives in Asphodel just he goes to the private school down south." He muttered out but then suddenly Dionysus was back with their drinks and sat them down on the table, slamming Ares' down but gently placed Persephone's.

"Yes, it's a little ways into the country." Dionysus spoke out and Persephone blushed in embarrassment, she didn't want it to seem like they were gossiping about him.

They once again ordered but this time Dionysus took a bit longer writing it down, eyes flickering up every now and then to look at Persephone before taking their menus away and headed off.

"So anyways, I was wondering if you would like to do this again sometime?" Ares laughed and Persephone's heart caught in her throat. Was Ares getting the wrong idea out of this? Yes, she did think he was cute but hopefully he didn't think this was full out date. Wasn't he with Aphrodite or something like that?

"Uh, yeah sure… Anyways, how's Aphrodite?"

"I don't want to talk about her."

Yep, definitely getting the wrong idea. She had played enough games of Harvest Moon to know when a guy started to like you and this was bad.

Persephone jumped when her food was set out for her along with Ares which seemed to have been messily done.

"Are you okay, miss? You seem flushed, we do have a bathroom near the kitchen." Dionysus looked at her with concern and her eyes flashed up to Ares but then got up, darting towards the bathroom.

She was dumb for coming here with Ares. She didn't know how she was going to tell him that this wasn't serious but it was also her fault for accepting his offer in the first place.

Looking up in the mirror, she could see that she was slightly flushed and even flustered looking. She tried to comb down her hair with her fingers and took in a deep breath. She would just have to tell Ares that she got a call from her mother saying that she needed to get back immediately.

Wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans, she slowly walked out of the bathroom and back to Ares who was sitting in his seat, almost frustrated.

"Sorry." Persephone sat down and took a gulp of her water before focusing on her food. If Hermes was here, they would probably be having an eating contest, not a staring contest which Ares seemed to be having.

"Did I do something wrong?" He sounded more angry than concerned and it made Persephone instantly look up at him, confused. It was amazing how quickly his emotions could change.

"No, I just thought you were with Aphrodite and I think we should keep it that way." Persephone slowly said this out but wanted to take those words and shove them back down her throat by the way Ares was looking at her.

"Is this about Hermes? Did he say something?" He leaned forward, muscles going tense and Persephone was now officially becoming afraid.

"No he didn't have anything to do with it."

"So whats the matter? I'm not good enough for y—" Ares cut himself off and Persephone looked over to a confused looking Dionysus holding onto a mug of coffee, most likely for his next costumer.

"Sir, I think you should leave." Those few words made Ares' face go red and he turned his attention to the dark haired waiter.

"And what makes you think I should listen to you?" He hissed out, muscles flexing again within his shirt and Persephone shrunk back in her seat.

Dionysus seemed to be thinking for a moment before looking down at his coffee and then back up to Ares then flicked his wrist, sending the hot fluid onto the boy.

Ares seemed to be stunned for he didn't say anything at first, just stared at Dionysus before his face swirled into a mixture of pain and anger.

"I'm going to kill you!" He screamed out and Dionysus then quickly grabbed Persephone's hand, yanking her out of her seat and ran for the exit, his black apron fluttering wildly as they escaped out onto the street with Ares chasing behind.

Dionysus suddenly darted towards the right, still dragging Persephone along with him and down the street, pushing numerous people out of their way before quickly ducking into an alley which was narrow and dark. He quickly shoved her behind some large boxes and he followed suit, cramming in with her.

"You're breathing too loud, he'll find us… Here." Dionysus shifted and popped a mint into Persephone's mouth. Dionysus was so close to her, she could feel his breath on her cheek as he crouched beside her, almost protectively. She tried to focus on the mint but when she heard loud footsteps enter into the alley she could hear her heart instantly start to beat faster and faster.

Out of the corner of her vision, she could see the blond jock looking around viciously and she swore she made eye contact with him. Her hands began to sweat and he walked around cautiously, looking and yanking things away from the alley's wall while looking into some other boxes. It seemed like one of those nightmares where you wanted to scream yet nothing came out as some demonic form tried to get nearer to you.

Dionysus held her closer, probably ready to attack but then Ares cursed, spat, and then ran away, back out in the crowded streets.

"Jesus Christ, he is insane." Dionysus cursed and slowly uncurled himself from the hiding spot, reaching for Persephone but as she got up, she felt herself sway and everything get really foggy like she was walking on nothing.

Desperately, she reached out for something and felt a hand hold her upright and a voice saying something desperately but she couldn't tell or think anymore.

She felt a soft caress on her forehead before slipping away, passing out into unconsciousness.

**A/N Oh nope! What did Ares do to Persephone? What will Demeter say or how will Hermes react to this? Find out next time on "How I met the Darklord" ! Nay just kidding. **

**I probably rewrote this chapter like 5 times so… sorry it took a little while to get it up but thanks for reading and all the lovely reviews, they make me so happy and want to write even more.**

**AND DON'T WORRY HADES IS COMING.**

_teehee_


	4. Hospital Blankets

This time when she opened her eyes, she was not greeted by the dull greyness of her room or the familiar sound of rain. Instead she saw a light green curtain and heard a weird beeping noise. Lifting herself up, she made out that she was actually in a hospital room.

It wasn't till she completely shifted herself over that she realised Hermes was right there beside her, sitting in a chair with his arms crossed, sleeping.

She leaned forward, just close enough so she could lightly touch his arm with her fingertips.

At the instant her hand brushed against him, he flailed his arms up, eyes wide open as he sucked in a breath. It reminded her of the same reaction which Apollo had when she interrupted him.

He looked down at her and almost immediately, his eyes began to water.

"I'm so sorry! I came as soon as possible but my car was getting repairs so I had to steal Apollo's keys while he was sucking face with some French guy and then I got pulled over for speeding but I was so upset that the cop couldn't understand what I was saying, wrote me off as a foreigner and let me go and then when I got here, visiting hours were over so I had to wait even longer!"

It was a huge rush of words that seemed to crash down on her like a waterfall. She could only pull out a few words from his speech but she sort of made out what he was trying to say.

"It's fine, Hermes but what happened?" She rubbed at her head, trying to remember or make sense of anything what was going on but came up fruitless.

"Well, Ares somehow managed to pick you up and drugged you at some restaurant but the waiter got you out of there before anything major happened." Hermes was still slightly sobbing and would hiccup every now and then, looking distraught as hell.

"I told you he was bad news, Persephone!"

She felt instantly guilty but it was difficult, she couldn't remember any of it. Did she go with him willingly or did something happen? She wasn't too sure.

"Sorry." Was all she could muster but he seemed pleased with it, rubbing at his eyes like a girl who was dumped at prom.

"At least nothing bad happened, right? How far can you remember back to?" He leaned forward, hands clasping together.

"Uh, I think I went shopping and that was pretty much it." She drawled out, sounding like she hadn't had a drink of water in the past several years.

"Oh okay good, cause I was gonna say if you can't remember the past couple of days then you're screwed for the math final this month." He started to laugh but was silenced by his phone going off to which he quickly muted.

"So how long was I out for?" He looked back at her and shrugged.

"Oh just like twenty-four hours which isn't that bad. It's still the weekend and everything but apparently you're gonna have to stay a couple days here." He slouched at that and Persephone let out a frustrated sigh.

"Why? Was the drug that bad?"

"Well kinda, they want to make sure you're okay because if you got too much of the drug into your system then you might have a lot of problems and the drug itself could have been mixed with other things, potentially making it dangerous." He breathed out, looking tired but then saw her worried face.

"It's not all that bad just more of a safety thing!" He laughed again but then slowly reached down and fiddled with something before coming back up with his bag and jacket in his arms.

"You're leaving?" She was upset and confused. She didn't like how Hermes just sort of dropped a bomb on her and was now escaping back to reality like everything was fine.

"Well, I'm actually not supposed to be here right now." He gestured to the clock which read 2 AM and zipped up his jacket.

Distraught and mouth wide open, she looked back at Hermes who just shrugged.

"What can I say? My parkour abilities cannot be matched." He slowly got up and made his way to the curtain which he struggled to open before finally ripping it free.

"Like I said, cannot be matched." He coughed in embarrassment before giving her one last smile and then disappearing.

She let out a sigh and settled back down in her bed. She wondered where her mom was but thought that maybe she went home and would be here in the morning or even rented a hotel.

She was hurt and confused but it was hard to make sense of it all when she couldn't even remember it. She felt the need to burst into tears and be frightened but she just couldn't feel anything but exhaustion and confusion.

Slowly she swung her legs around the bed and got up, gripping onto the desk for support. Her vision was blurred and she had to suck in a breath before she finally gained her balance and walked towards the curtain.

She figured that maybe if she went and got a glass of water then maybe she would have less of a headache but even walking seemed to be a challenge for her.

Slowly she ripped the curtain open and walked out but as she turned something made her suck in a huge breath.

Over to the other side of her curtain laid a boy in a bed similar to hers. He was bloodied up and if he wasn't asleep right now then he would probably be in a world of pain.

Her stomach did a flip and she got a little closer to him before embarrassingly noting that he was quite handsome. He had dark hair and pale skin but that might have been because of the moon that was shining incredibly bright through the window.

She wanted to get nearer; something seemed to be pulling her in like a magnet. Her shaky knees were barely keeping her up but then she started to hear footsteps.

Sweating, she got back to her bed as quickly as possible, tripping in the process before slumping back in her blankets.

The door clicked open and she could hear multiple people rushing into the room and Persephone's heart immediately started to race.

They all swarmed into the curtain next to her so she couldn't see them at all but she figured they were where she had just previously been.

"I thought I heard talking so I wondered if he woke up." One of the voices spoke up, sounding depressed.

"It is fine, Annette. Any of us would have made the same mistake." Another voice sounded out.

"If it is any consolation, I sometimes hear him talking in his sleep. Poor boy probably doesn't even realise what is going on. Father won't even come down to see him." The others hummed in agreement and they all shuffled in awkward silence.

"It's been a couple months so he's bound to wake up soon. C'mon, let's go before we end up waking the other patients by mistake." She could hear them all walking out again and before she could even think about what just happened, her eyes slowly started to drift shut and she felt herself falling back to sleep.

**A Couple Hours Earlier**

"Mom, can I have the car?" Hermes called, poked his head out from the hallway and stared at his mother who was sitting lazily on the couch.

"Why? I just got it cleaned and I really don't need you rallying about with it." She sighed and looked at him in detest.

"My friend got into some serious trouble and I kind of need to go be with her right now." His voice slowly decreased in volume as he gave his reason but his mother just looked at him like he was mad.

"You are great at lying, Hermes; now go away, I'm trying to watch something." She drawled out.

"But I'm not lying this time!" He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at her in frustration, coming out from the hallway so it didn't look like he was hiding anymore.

"You say that every single time! I understand your car is still being fixed but I really don't need this right now." She started to raise her voice so Hermes took that as a hint to leave but as he started to walk down the hallway he heard a soft moan come from the door opposite of him.

He shuddered and realised that there was always _that_ option.

No, Apollo was his brother. He couldn't do that to him.

**27 Minutes Later**

Y'know what, Apollo's car was actually pretty nice on the inside, Hermes had never noticed that. He felt bad for taking the vehicle but really, Apollo would understand, he was nice enough.

Plus it was a shame on Apollo for making out with that guy again and leaving his keys conveniently on the countertop but then he started to wonder about Persephone and he started to feel his heart clench up again.

He felt like he had to be there for her, like he was some sort of guide that had to help her through all this and hear she was, getting drugged her first week at school.

He heard the cars around him rush by and he sped up a little, wanting to get to the hospital before it was too late and before he started to ball his eyes out again from being a horrible friend and not punching Ares in the face when he got the chance in the 5th grade.

Turning off from where he was, he started to drive down on the main road and turned up the radio, trying to drown his mind out from all his thought but really, it wasn't working. If anything, Coldplay was the opposite of happy music at that moment but then something caught him off guard.

He noticed red and blue lights flashing behind him and his heart immediately stopped. Was the cop pulling him down or was there someone else?

He started to feel himself choke up again and begged himself not to cry, especially in front of a cop but as he pulled off the road, the cop pulled along with him until stopping right behind him.

Distraught, Hermes just sat in his car like his life was going to end at that very moment before the cop slowly walked up to his, notepad in hand.

"Sir, do you know why you are getting pulled over?"

"Abidubuh?" Hermes body racked with sobs and he couldn't get out a clear sentence.

"I said, do you know why you are getting pulled over?"

"Swaah?"

"Are you okay, sir?"

"Smmyesh." Hermes looked at the cop and the man seemed to notice his tear stricken face before looking over his shoulder and into the car.

Another five minutes later with mumbling gibberish, and frustrating sighs.

The cop tested Hermes to see if he was drinking and before long he gave up and let him off with a warning.

"Shankyou." Hermes sobbed out and the cop just quickly walked away, back towards his car before driving off once again.

**1 Hour and Thirty-three Minutes Later**

Looking at Persephone, he felt a feeling of triumph. He had managed to sneak past all the people within the hospital and towards her room. He felt his legs slightly shaking from the ride and even had noticed that the same cop was following him, making sure he wasn't speeding again.

But that didn't matter anymore. What did matter was that he had finally made it to Persephone and he was glad but also extremely tired.

Closing his eyes, he slowly started to drift off into sleep, only to feel fingertips brush his arm softly minutes later…

**A/N sorry guys that little Hermes bit was sort of a bonus filler because without it – the chapter would have felt incredibly short ! And I would have felt like a total douchebag! **

**Ohohoho Who could be the mysterious dark haired boy?**

***Wiggles eyebrows back at Mckoy while eating Rose's cookies***


	5. Wait

"Madam, we can't really do that. It's tough moving around patients as it is since we are getting incredibly full as of late."

Persephone once again woke up to the hospital room. Hearing voices outside of her curtain, she tried to sit up and brush her hair a little with her fingers before giving up and slumping back down.

"I don't care; I want him out of here." Why did that voice sound so familiar?

"Madam, the boy hasn't woken up in the past two months and even if he does, I doubt he will have the energy to get even close to your daughter."

Persephone heard footsteps walk away from the curtain and at the same time she heard a heavy sigh. Slowly the curtain tugged around to reveal her mother, looking hesitant to come in before seeing her daughter was awake.

"Persephone!" She rushed in, not even bothering to close the curtain as she nearly bear hugged her daughter into the bed.

"I rented a hotel near here, I'm so sorry!" Persephone could barely breathe with her mom's hair floundering about her face as they hugged.

"It's fine, mom." She tried to pat her back but Demeter only retracted.

"Fine? It is not fine! I already chewed out that boy and I assure you that you will never hear from him again."

Persephone looked dully at her for a second.

"You killed Ares?" She croaked out, confused and tired and her mother rolled her eyes.

"No, his parents will do that for me." She smiled like she just did something that should get her an award or maybe even a parade.

"Wait, wait, speaking of boys, I heard you talking to the nurse about someone." Persephone shuffled underneath her covers nervously as she waited for her mother's reply but Demeter just sat there looking serious as always.

"I just don't like that boy being so close to you, I knew his father, horrible man, not much of a surprise to see his son stuck in the hospital though." Demeter sneered and leaned back in her chair, a tiny squeak emitted from the wooden object and Persephone processed this for a moment.

"I don't think that just because his Dad was bad; mean that he'll be bad as well." Persephone didn't know the boy that lay only a couple feet away from her but for some odd reason, she felt the need to protect him. It just didn't feel right to talk about someone's back while they were all bloodied up and mangled from god knows what.

Her mother just remained silent for a few moments before finally thinking of something to say.

"I agree but that doesn't mean his father won't come here." She sighed before leaning down in her purse, rummaging around in it before she managed to rip out a bottle of water.

Persephone remembered the people from last night saying how the boy's father hadn't come at all but she kept her mouth shut for she knew that would only spark more questions on the issue.

An issue that seemed to bother Demeter in an odd sort of way.

For the next couple of hours Demeter talked about other things like school and how Persephone shouldn't be afraid of Asphodel just because of Ares. Apparently he wouldn't even be going to the high school anymore so she wouldn't have a problem. She was still hurt that Ares would do such a thing but who knows; maybe Ares himself was getting mixed up in the wrong crowd, doing drugs. Maybe that day at the mall, he wasn't himself.

Persephone tried to push those thoughts away, she would most likely get her answers soon enough and maybe even an apology.

"Persephone?" Demeter called out, probably not for the first time as her daughter blinked gingerly, trying to snap out of her thoughts about Ares.

But before Demeter could say what she wanted, her phone began to ring and It reminded Persephone of last night and how Hermes had done the same. She heard her mother talk in a low voice as if she was threatening the other person on the line. Persephone finally made out that it was Demeter's boss but it wasn't long until she hung up.

"What was that all about?" Persephone grumbled, wishing that she had the water that was snug in her mother's hands.

"Oh, it's just Charles." So Persephone was right, it was Demeter's boss.

"Mom, you don't have to lose your job over me." Persephone laughed but it just seemed to get Demeter more flustered.

"I can't leave you! You just got nearly drugged and raped for heaven's sake!" Demeter looked at her daughter like she had just asked her to go jump off a large building.

"I didn't come here with you just so you could lose the job that had made us move here in the first place." Demeter looked at her phone and then back up at her daughter once again, taking her words into account.

"I'm serious, mom. I'll be fine, the people are really nice here and I don't think the guy next to me will have the ambition to throttle me anytime soon." Persephone gestured over to the boy sleeping next to her, although she could not seem him because of the curtain that separated the two.

Demeter let out a long sigh before she shoved her phone back in her purse, smiling at her daughter.

"Fine but I'll be back tomorrow." She hugged Persephone once before slowly bounding off; looking back at her like she was going to disappear any moment.

Once her mother was finally gone, Persephone let out a sigh of relief. It wasn't that she didn't love her mother; it was just the fact on how stubborn she was.

Persephone started to lean towards her desk, happy to see her phone and purse still sitting there. She wondered how she managed to escape from Ares, or how she even managed to keep her stuff while doing it.

Shrugging, she grabbed her phone and found Hermes number but as she started to text she heard wheels nearing and before she knew it, there was a trolley filled with plates of food being rolled around.

It wasn't till the nurse had actually handed her the plate that she felt her stomach launch into a vicious growl. Sure, hospital food was kind of gnarly but anything at this point would be better than nothing.

As the nurse came around a second time to leave, Persephone quickly caught her attention.

"Yes, miss?" The small nurse walked up, leaving the trolley behind her.

"I was just wondering what the guy's name is next to me. I'm not trying to be creepy but everyone keeps talking about him." Persephone tried to act innocent and polite but she still felt like she was coming off as nosey.

The nurse seemed to understand her curiosity well enough though and just smiled, sitting on the edge of Persephone's floral printed bed.

"His name is Hades. He came in a couple of months ago from a traumatic motorcycling accident and hasn't woken since." The nurse shrugged solemnly, looking down at her hands as she explained.

"We are all hoping that he will wake up soon, his father doesn't come around so it's difficult to know anything else about him but he does like to talk in his sleep which usually tricks us into thinking he woke up but also gives us hope that he will soon."

Persephone just nodded and watched as the nurse got up and left. She was surprised the nurse told her that, usually she would expect them to scream at her and tell her it was too private.

Persephone went quiet, thinking over what she just heard and started to text Hermes again. She felt bad for Hades but at the same time, he was still a stranger that her mother told her to keep away from. There was not much she could do.

Sighing, she decided to watch a couple of TV shows. Things like Family Feud or the Discovery Channel. She couldn't really hang on to anything as the day dragged on by.

She felt tired and noticed that it was starting to get late again but she couldn't fall asleep no matter how hard she tried.

Her mind was still slightly on Hades and slightly on everything else that was going on, it was hard to slow down and relax.

Another nurse came in hours later, bringing dinner this time and Persephone wolfed that down as well, somehow wishing Hades was awake so she would have someone to talk to.

The sun settled down relatively quickly and it wasn't long till all the lights were off.

It unsettled Persephone, reminding her of that Ghost Adventures show where they went and investigated old haunted hospitals.

Slowly, she turned her phone back on underneath the covers so no nurses or doctors would come and find her up.

She was on her phone for a long while until she heard a soft groan coming from a couple feet from her. Persephone's heart skipped a beat and once again, her mind flashed back to demons and ghosts but as she heard the weird groan again, she realised that it was actually Hades.

Slowly shutting her phone, she shuffled out of her covers and got out of the bed, moving around the curtains, she found him once again sleeping peacefully on his bed.

Getting closer, she saw that his face looked as if it were in pain. So Persephone searched around him, checking to see if something was the matter but nothing came up.

Confused, she slowly brushed the hair out from his face, stroking his forehead lightly as she did so.

It was only for a split second but she felt his arm flick up at an amazing speed for a wounded man and grabbed her by the wrist.

"Holy…shit." Was all Persephone managed to say as she felt the grip loosen. Slowly, she looked over at Hades to see that he was still sound asleep, not affected at all.

Quickly, Persephone's heart began to beat faster and she had flurries of different emotions fly in. Should she go tell the nurses or should she stay here with him?

Cautiously, she sat down on the bed with him, careful not to bump into any of his injuries.

"Hades?" She whispered and tried to stroke his arm but no response came from him.

Sighing, she slumped and continued to sit on the bed, debating on what she should do.

"If I kiss you, will you wake up?" She muttered out lamely, feeling the need to smother his face with a pillow. How dare he react to her and then just let go?

Sighing, she leaned down and softly connected her forehead to his, feeling royally stupid but concerned at the same time him.

"Please wake up." She whispered, feeling her hair stroke his face as she closed her eyes, hearing the soft breathing.

Slowly, she dragged herself back up, depressed that maybe she could have been the one to have actually stopped all this – to have helped him.

Sighing once more, she rose up from the bed, feeling a heavy weight on her heart as she started to walk away blindly and back towards her bed but as did she heard something that made her freeze.

It was a voice, **his** voice and it was one word that seemed so harmless, that seemed so yearning that she turned around to see his fear stricken face before he said the word again,

"Wait."

**A/N Thank you all for reading and I'm sorry that it was sort of a boring chapter to get through but I'm hoping that the ending was worth it! I'm also sorry about introducing Hades so late in the story but I didn't want it to be like super quick either XD**

**I hope you enjoyed it! Tell me what you think + will update soon ! :D 3**


	6. A Promise

"Wait."

Persephone didn't know what she should do as she looked into Hades' crisp blue eyes. He seemed to be just as confused as she was as he looked around the room, drinking in every detail.

Slowly, she drifted back towards him and sat back down on the bed which once again got his attention.

"Are you okay?" She leaned forward to brush his dark hair out of his eyes but he only leaned farther back. She understood his uncertainty – who wouldn't be freaked out if they just woke up after two months to a stranger?

Still, she couldn't help but feel a little depressed as he continued to lean back from her like she was a ravenous wolf, ready to rip his throat out.

"You don't have to be so scared, y'know." She tried to laugh and lighten the mood but it only seemed to increase the awkwardness of the situation. He seemed to be studying her for a long time now like she was a familiar face that he could not read.

"Who are you?" His voice once again croaked out but this time it reminded her of a violin – a violin that wasn't fully tuned.

"My name is Pers—" She began but was swiftly caught off by the sound of rushing feet and the door being swung open with a light bang.

Scrambling up from his bed, Persephone quickly ran back over to hers and dived under the covers as she heard someone enter the room with what seemed to be a flash light.

She made out by the hazy light that it was a nurse in space themed pyjama pants along with a book that was being clenched tightly in her hand.

"I thought I heard something." She whispered out, sounding extremely tired as she shifted around in her sneakers but as she pulled back the curtain next to her she heard the woman gasp as she nearly dropped her flashlight on the ground.

"You're awake!" She cried out, most likely rushing to the boy and embracing him because Persephone only heard sobbing after that.

Weirdly enough, Persephone started to feel jealousy as other people started to file in the room with their own gasps and sobs of happiness.

She was the one who woke up the boy, **she **should be the one collecting his frail body in her arms and telling him that everything was going to be OK.

Mentally slapping herself, Persephone tried to stop thinking about it. She barely even knew him, these nurses have been watching over him since day one. Who was she to complain and practically possess the boy who only sat a couple feet away from her?

Still, she couldn't help but feel a weird aching feeling in her chest as she heard them all. At first she had wanted to stay awake to hear what happened next but at this point, all she wanted to do was go to bed and forget this ever happened.

It was hard though, the way they were all chatting like crazy made her want to shove a pillow over her head or even throw it at them.

It wasn't long till a doctor had finally managed to shove them all out of the room though, most likely wanting to get Hades alone.

"I'm sorry about that, you must be very confused." She heard the doctor whisper and she heard the sound of something moving around like fabric.

"Where am I?" Was Hades' only reply; he sounded more fluid now, like he had cleared his throat.

"Well to begin with, you are at the hospital. You got into quite the nasty accident a couple months ago but you pulled through." She heard it go silent again for a brief moment until the doctor started to talk again, this time more hesitant.

"How far back do you remember? I'm not trying to pressure you, this must be very traumatic." Persephone wished she could see what was going on in the curtain beside her but at least she could hear the conversation.

"I remember going out with some friends and that was it, I don't even remember why we were going out or what we were doing." Hades talked much quieter than the doctor and more quickly, like he wanted the conversation to end.

"I understand completely, we shall continue this chat in the morning for you look rather pale. I am happy to let you know that most of your wounds are almost healed, the cast was actually supposed to come off yesterday but we were delayed."

Persephone made a face at this – healed? He looked like hell just minutes ago, how could he be already healed?

Grumbling to herself, she heard the doctor slowly walk out the room and for the split second the door was open Persephone could still hear the nurses chatting.

She wanted to talk to Hades, whisper through the curtains like some crummy romance movie but she already heard the soft breathing leaving and entering his lips.

She always had wondered how it felt to sleep longer than a week; would a person feel refreshed or just even more exhausted?

Hades seemed to lean more to the exhausted side as she once again heard him let out a soft breath, almost like he was finally at peace.

Softly, Persephone closed her own eyes, listening to the lullaby that was his breathing and slowly drifted off to sleep with him.

-o-

"Hermes just calm down, she is going to be fine." Eros sighed as he leaned against the large building behind him, his long slender legs dressed in ripped skinnies as he watched his friend nearly rip out his hair.

"If I nearly got raped by Ares, I would probably shoot myself!" Hermes flailed his arms around, blonde curls swaying as he tried to calm down.

Instead of coming back with a snarky remark about how Hermes is a male and would never even get touched by Ares, Eros just slowly smirked at him like he heard the world's biggest secret.

"What?" Hermes looked at him dumbstruck, urged to go slap that smile off his friend's face. He didn't care if Eros gave him free ice cream sometimes, the guy could be a prick.

"You like her." He whispered, smile still dazzling on his face like a curtain revealing blinding white teeth. He slowly pushed off the wall and neared Hermes, digging his hands in his pockets as he did so.

"We've been through this, Eros." Hermes snarled but Eros only smiled more.

"What? That a boy and a girl can be friends?" He chuckled, walking past him now and out towards the streets.

"I'm just teasing you, Hermes; please do not take any of my words into offense." He laughed aloud before walking off back towards the ice cream shop, most likely to work for ten minutes then flirt with girls for the next hundred.

Breathing out a sigh, Hermes didn't even bothering following him. Those three words Eros had said were enough to occupy his entire mind as he started to walk back towards home.

Dodging puddles, Hermes breathed out a shaky sigh as he walked out to his front door.

He still had to deal with Dionysus later who had miserably lost his job because of Ares. He promised he would look out for any signs or fliers but so far his only option was to go kill Eros and hope that Dionysus would take that job.

Breathing out another sigh, he quickly kicked off his wet sneakers as he walked inside, hanging up his large jacket but failing after it easily slid off the hanger.

Trying once more, he grabbed the jacket and carefully slid it on the hanger before it fell off once again.

"Fuck it." He cursed and just left the jacket on the floor, most likely causing a fight with his mother later.

It wasn't till he was on his bed with a laptop in his hands that he felt a little more human and less depressed about everything in the world.

He felt the need to go write depressing poetry or to sing some depressing acoustic songs with Apollo but just sighed and laid back on the bed, logging on slowly as he brought up his Tumblr.

"Tumblr fixes everything." He mumbled, quickly clicking on one of his favourites but as he scrolled along, he noticed a picture.

It was a picture of a boy with a girl, holding hands and looking out at the ocean, both their hair blowing furiously as they watched the water.

With a shaky breath, Hermes quickly clicked out of the Tumblr, much too horrified to even go back on the internet.

"Fuck you, Tumblr. I don't need your romance bullshit." He sobbed out as he slammed his laptop shut, feeling as if something was eating away at him.

But he knew exactly what it was; he just didn't want to admit it. Hermes wished he could go back in time, take Eros and shove every word he had said to him back in his god forsaken mouth.

Nearly throwing his laptop on the ground, he quickly shuffled over to his Xbox 360 which was being used as a bookshelf at the moment and started to throw off the countless comics on top of it, muttering apologies to the console as he did so.

Finally he could get his frustration out and picture every monster as Eros or even Ares as he played the first-person shooter.

He wondered what Ares was doing right now actually, probably worse than having a bullet to the face countless times then getting T-bagged like he was doing to the monster in front of him now.

Taking in a shaky breath, he slowly paused the game and cupped his face in his hands.

"I'm so confused."

-o-

When Persephone woke up, she felt a lot more refreshed and like a new person than she did the night before.

She could see the sun coming up through the window and had the urge to take a picture of it or something but as she leaned down towards her bag for her phone, she heard someone whispering and quickly stopped.

"He won't talk to any of us." She heard someone say, sounding depressed even as a whisper.

"I know, he barely even talks to the doctor. He keeps asking for a girl but I have no idea what he's talking about." The other voice confessed, the sound of them getting fainter.

Persephone leaned forward but she could no longer hear them and was incredibly confused.

Getting up, she slowly made her way over to Hades bed but as she did she noticed he wasn't there.

"And where could you be." She sighed, softly touching the sheets before straightening back up.

She started to head to the door but then stopped as she reached the handle.

Was she even allowed to leave? She didn't know but it's not like she had any illness to pass around so instead she slowly walked out of the room, hesitant as she saw nurses floundering about the morning.

Slowly she tried to just act natural and sneak on by down the hall, looking into various waiting rooms as she did so but as she came around the corner she saw something that made her heart stop.

This waiting room had a large window, splashing in golden colours of orange, yellow and red as the sun slowly rose up. Hades sat in one of the plush blue chairs, a large book in hand and black hair tumbling down his sharp features.

Slowly, she tried to knock on the door frame, alerting him of her presence but instead missed and just knocked at thin air for a minute before realising.

So instead she just coughed which seemed to grab his attention because his head snapped up almost immediately.

"Wow, only hours after waking up from a horrible experience and you're already walking around!" Persephone laughed, sitting down in the chair beside him.

Instead of laughing with her or even smiling, his eyes just turned into slits, shutting his book with a light thud.

"What's your name." He mumbled, a childish light flickering through his eyes as he watched her closely.

"Persephone." She smiled, confused on why he wanted to know her name so badly.

"Kay, I'm stupid." A smile flickered on his face for a brief moment before he opened his book up again, turning to his page.

"What do you mean?" Persephone scratched at her knotted hair, feeling flustered and confused.

"I stood up the entire night, trying to figure out your name." This time the smile stayed there, looking up at her with a playful look.

"It's kind of a weird one but wait you were up the entire night? But I heard you fall asleep!" She gasped out, eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"No; I just wanted the doctors to leave me alone so I faked for a while." He sighed, looking out the window and seeing the blinding red sun slowly rising up.

"I heard you talking, about how the last thing you remember was your friends." Persephone felt bad about listening in but Hades didn't seem to mind, he just cocked his head to the side.

"I lied." He breathed out, eyes flickering towards the hallway then back towards Persephone.

"What? What do you mean lied? Why would you lie to them?" She spurred out questions before she could even stop.

"The last thing I remember was getting into a fight, with someone I know though but I'm not too sure who, it's very blurry. I remember being really distraught, throwing things and screaming at myself alone in my room." He mumbled out, looking somewhat distracted.

"I remember texting someone but I can't remember who, it was something morbid though then after that, I just remember hearing the sound of a horn like a car's." He blinked a lot as he said this but then looked back up at Persephone.

"Sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you this." He confessed, his slender shoulders rising and falling in somewhat of a depressed manner.

"No, I understand. I promise I won't tell anyone." She smiled feeling the need to snake her arms around Hades' body and just hug him.

"Thanks." He smiled again but this time it quickly disappeared as a nurse came in, telling him that he would have to go see the doctor now.

Sighing, he put his book down on the table and got up slowly with Persephone nearly jumping up to help him but he managed.

He looked back at her one last time and she smiled at him reassuringly, wanting to let him know that everything was going to be OK.

Once he was gone, Persephone felt as if something important had left her, like the feeling you get when you accidentally delete an important email.

Leaning over, she reached for the book he had been reading and opened it up to the first page, the golden lights of the sun were still splashing in, dying everything orange as she slowly read the book, mind still on Hades as she skimmed.

**A/N At least this chapter was longer ~ and guys don't worry about Hermes, he's just on his man period.**

**IMPORTANT! To "Guest" who was wondering about people in previous chapters! Since you asked so politely :D the two people in the first chapter was just Ares and Aphrodite (no big spoiler) and as for the stable boy that is Poseidon! **

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter + will update soon! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCHSUHOZOMG..**


	7. Small Talk

**A/N Check out my profile for a poll I just put up! I'm torn between doing a story centered on Thanatos or Eros and Psyche so I'll let you guys vote ^_^**

The next day started out slowly, Persephone saw no sign of Hades for the first couple hours of the blinding morning. She tried once again to comb out her hair with her fingers in high hopes to see him resting in the bed beside her but as she walked over towards his curtain she noticed that it was empty.

Depressed, she slouched back down on her pillows and blankets, shutting her eyes for a brief moment that seemed to last for hours.

Groaning out in frustration, she sat back up and reached for her phone, desperate to find something to distract her, whether it be a game of Tetris or stalking people on Facebook, she didn't care but it wasn't until around noon that finally she gave up and started to walk around.

She wondered about school and how much homework she was probably missing. She wondered how Hermes was surviving without her and if maybe he missed her as well. She wondered if her mom was still at work or if she was driving to the hospital right now in heated anticipation.

Then that brought the thought of Ares back to her. She wondered how or what he was doing right now, she wondered if anyone really knew beside the handful of people she could name about what happened a couple days ago.

Then as she turned around to head back towards her room, she heard a faint familiar voice that instantly made her stop and look around. All she saw was nurses clad in neon pants and other fun patterns as she twirled around disoriented.

She started to head down the overly large hallway where the cafeteria was and saw Hades sitting around one of the many tables, reading a magazine slowly like he was scanning for something.

A doctor was sitting beside him but it looked like he was getting ready to go, packing up his bag and throwing on his jacket as he bid Hades farewell.

As soon as the doctor was out of site, Persephone darted forward, dodging the many people in her way and sitting instantly beside Hades, out of breath and dizzied.

"Hey." He said casually, eyes still glued to the magazine as he flipped through.

Persephone leaned over his shoulder carefully, taking a quick glance before slumping back into her chair.

"Motorcycles?" She crossed her arms, confused and a little upset.

"You're not thinking about getting another motorcycle when you just nearly survived with the last one." She grumbled out, looking at him.

Slowly, he raised his head and finally looked at her, a playful smile on his face.

"No, I'm just looking. Nothing better to do." She had to agree with him there, the hospital was anything but entertaining and she felt as if she was slowly dying or becoming a type of zombie.

"They say you'll be out in a couple of days." He spoke again but this time she noticed a hint of sadness that crossed his face as well as his words.

"Really? No one told me that." She leaned forward, feeling the need to take a shower or throw up, maybe both.

"They couldn't find you in your room just now so they said that if I saw you then I should probably tell you." He sighed, putting down the magazine before looking around at the dully coloured walls.

"Oh." She lamely commented, not really knowing what to say.

A part of her wanted to stay for Hades, for she felt like she could actually communicate with him and maybe even help him through all this but another part of her just wanted to go home and eat a big bucket of ice cream with Hermes.

"So how did you get here? Since y'know so much about me." Hades had changed the subject and Persephone didn't know if it was for better or for worse.

Softly, she clasped her hands together and stared at the table for a moment, not really knowing what to say. She did owe Hades an explanation, especially when he had pretty much shared almost everything had happened to him, even without his consent.

"I just actually moved to a town near here and with my luck and outstanding ability, I went shopping on the weekend to which a guy in my grade found me and supposedly drugged me but I don't remember any of it." Hades eyes seemed to narrow into what seemed to be sympathy but also a little bit of anger or even rage.

"Why would he do that?" Was all he muttered out, motorcycle magazine laid out beside him, long forgotten.

"I dunno, maybe he was on something. It didn't sound like something he would do." Hades only nodded at this, understanding.

"What town do you live in?" He scratched at his head, locks of dark hair falling around his face as he looked at her, making her blush.

"Asphodel, but its no-"

"Oh I live there." He said this so casually that Persephone felt the need to hit him with the chair next to her. Why didn't he say this sooner?

But as he said that, a sudden burst of happiness engulfed her. She could leave the hospital and not have to worry about him. She could see Hades again and still go home and not have to worry about how he's doing or what he's been up to.

"You probably bought the house along Ellesmere, didn't you? The one with the really big windows and weird carpet." He used his hands as he talked, making sort of a box shape to exaggerate.

"It's not that weird of carpet." She mumbled, surprised that he knew what house she bought but then again it was a small town that seemed to barely have new residents.

"It also smells of cornflakes and cheese." Hades seemed to cringe at that, looking as if he was recalling a really old memory that seemed to bring discomfort.

"How do you know so much about it?"

"A friend of mine used to rent that place, using it as sort of a hang out place for his band. I would come over and do homework there with them but it was always difficult when they were screaming into microphones like children on Rock Band."

Persephone snorted at that, for some reason the image of Hermes popped back into her head, visualising him playing a game like that.

"Do you play an instrument?" She turned to him, snapping out of her daydream.

"No, I had to serenade this girl with a pair of spoons once in the fifth grade over a dare, though." He sighed, looking a bit spaced out.

"I bet she was swooning." Persephone laughed, trying to imagine a young Hades with fluffy black hair like a sheep and big blue eyes.

"Yeah, she didn't like it all that much but at least I got fifty bucks out of Zeus that day." Hades coughed, looking around the cafeteria like he was scanning for something.

"Zeus? That really tall blonde guy?" She tried to shift her memory back a couple days and to when she saw him, drowning in the many girls that clutched onto his body like their lives depended on it.

"Yeah, he doesn't like me too much but I usually tend to stay out of his way." He mumbled, still looking around the cafeteria but then he spoke up again.

"Thanks, by the way. I never really got to talk to you after you woke me up." Hades' eyes drifted back to hers, a sort of dazed look was across his face.

"I don't really think I woke you up. It was more of a coincidence that I so happened to be there." She shrugged, happy that at least someone recognized that she was there that night.

"Do I still get that kiss?" He raised one dark slender eyebrow and Persephone was pretty sure that if she had been drinking something, she would have spewed it a couple meters from where she sat.

"I didn't think you were awake for that part." She croaked out, her face instantly starting to redden.

"Its fine, I'm kidding. I was just teasing you." He laughed but Persephone still felt heated. What if Hades got the idea that she liked him? But then again, he didn't really seem to like her in that way so she brushed it off.

"So are you thinking on coming back when they let you out of here, we could hang out and stuff." As she said this Hades' face seemed to brighten but then Persephone noticed a figure approaching them.

A figure that happened to be her mother.

"Oh shit."

**A/N Congratulations to Phangirl27 who managed to come up with the correct answer first but really all the people who reviewed got it right so XD CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU! **

**Correct answer was Poseidon!**

**So, Phangirl27, if you like you can request a new story for me to write (preferably Greek Mythology) but it's alright if you don't wanna – you still get confetti! I'm open to suggestions from other people with the correct answer as well – just PM or whatever you want to do, feel free and thank you for even participating – it was kind of a stupid game thing anyways XD**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter and hope you are enjoying Hades so far! / Now I just have to wait till my internet goes back up so I can actually post this…;A;**


	8. Facebook

Never had Persephone thought that she would want to run away from her own mother. To scramble to any place from where she was but instead felt frozen in place.

Hades seemed to follow her gaze and stared over at Demeter, looking confused and slightly uncomfortable as he lounged back in his chair, hair falling around his face.

Her mother didn't seem to notice Hades, she acted like he wasn't even there as she ran up to Persephone and enveloped her into a large hug, squeezing her tight like it was her first time seeing her after so many years.

"Oh, I've missed you so much! You want to go out for lunch?" It was a huge slur of words that Persephone had to think a bit on what she just said. She could tell that Demeter was rushing and that had started to make her sweat. She was somehow wishing that she wouldn't recognize the boy next to her but it seemed hopeless.

She awkwardly looked at Hades who just shrugged in return, not really getting the picture as he looked back down at his magazine with a blank stare.

"Um, alright; you sure that's okay with the hospital?" She looked up at her Demeter with a fake smile and slowly got up from her chair, making sure not to bump Hades in the process.

"Of course! C'mon, I already got some clothes laid out for you in your room." She started to tug on Persephone's arm and she looked hopelessly back at Hades for something.

A heroic rescue, an introduction, words, really anything would be better than his confused face tearing holes into her heart.

Finally, she gave up and lazily followed behind her mother, feeling tired all of the sudden and wanting to go back to the boy whom she was just talking with only moments ago.

"I found this really great place downtown, it even has deserts and it reminds me a lot of our old place." Demeter rambled on. Persephone wasn't too sure if it was because she didn't want to talk about Hades or if it was because she had missed her. Maybe both.

"Are you keeping touch with your friends from school?" Demeter laughed, taking a sharp turn down towards Persephone's room.

"Oh yeah, I text them."

_By them I mean Hermes and that's pretty much it…_

Well, actually that had been a lie, Aphrodite had sent her a text that asked why she was missing but it seemed too friendly and too cheesy for her to reply back to. She'll make up some weird cover-up story when she got back.

She turned into her room and saw the clothes neatly folded on her bed and Persephone breathed a sigh of relief when she noticed that it was not a dress or anything of the sort. Just some plain jeans and her old teenage mutant ninja turtles shirt from the 9th grade.

Demeter sat on the bed and Persephone rushed off towards the bathroom as he mother patiently waited.

As Persephone changed, she felt the hard thump of her phone in her pockets and took it out, quickly looking at her notifications as she slid off her smelly hospital clothes. She flipped through lazily, nothing new just the plain old spam emails but then she came across something. The name and everything about the email sparked out to her as she leaned over the counter, trying to tug on her jeans.

"Friend request from Hades?" She mumbled out, scanning over the name twice to make sure she hadn't read it wrong.

Fuck, he was fast.

She sluggishly leaned against the counter, gripping onto it so she wouldn't slump against the floor.

"Dear God, what have I gotten myself into? I should have never gotten Facebook." She gasped out, still clutching onto the counter as she slowly lugged herself back up, hair dishevelled from pulling her shirt on.

"Is everything okay, honey?" She heard her mother call out from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, just got distracted."

"I know you're pretty but even I don't stare at myself for that long." Demeter chuckled out and Persephone went red, not even bothering to answer her back.

Finally, she looked somewhat presentable and walked out of the bathroom, feeling normal again and like she had not been living in a hospital for the past couple of days.

"You look great, c'mon lets go." Demeter smiled and began to walk out of the room, huge purse slung over her shoulder and Persephone was grateful that she had not tried to drag her out by her hand once again.

Her mind was still on Hades and Facebook as she manoeuvred past all the nurses in their bright coloured pants and along the corridor and as they walked past the cafeteria once again, he was no longer there.

Sighing, she followed Demeter out and towards the parking lot, the sun hurting her eyes and the wind flapping her hair around in odd brown swirls. She stumbled over to the vehicle where he mother was waiting and slowly got in, hair settling down and she found that she didn't have to squint her eyes as much.

Demeter was also spitting out hair from her mouth as she reached to turn the car on, fumbling with the keys as it finally started up.

"Holy crap, that wind!" She gasped out, pulling out of the parking lot slowly and getting out towards the road.

Persephone could still hear the wind thumping relentlessly against the car, creating an odd whistling noise that bothered her.

"What are you looking at?" Demeter spoke up, eyes flickering from the road back towards Persephone.

"Oh nothing, just playing some stupid app." Persephone lied, she was actually trying to get onto Hades' Facebook but her phone was having a tantrum.

Sighing, she gave up and laid back against the seat, remembering how the last time she was here, she was on her way shopping.

"So, where exactly are we going?" She mumbled, giving her phone one last hopeful glance but still, it wouldn't connect.

"Oh it's this little place called Jenny's Diner and they pretty much make anything." Demeter talked excitingly, almost missing her turn towards the stoplight.

Persephone made a little grunt of approval and wished that she was back at the hospital, or at least have connection.

They slowly moved down a road that she didn't recognize and saw a little place that resembled somewhat of a cabin, eyes flickering around, studying it. It looked really familiar.

"Here we are!" Demeter hoped out almost instantly and hurried around to the front, Persephone was much more slow compared to her, feeling sore from her bed at the hospital.

They entered together and Persephone felt odd for a second like she had done this before, getting almost a dreamlike feeling so she just followed her mother a little clumsily.

They got seated almost instantly and she was thankful for that, scratching at her arm lazily as she tried to remember but nothing came up.

"Isn't this place great? It's so cozy." Demeter smiled, her face glowing as she looked at her daughter but the family moment was short lived.

She heard light footsteps rushing towards them and she looked up to see a boy around her age and she had to admit he was cute, although her mind was still on Hades.

"Hello, my name is Dionysus and I'll be your…" He trailed off as he slowly looked up at Persephone, jaw slightly dropping as he handed out the menus.

"Is something the matter?" Demeter knitted her eyebrows together, almost glaring at him.

"No nothing at all." He flashed her a smile and read out the special, took their drinks and quickly scampered off towards the kitchen.

"Wonder what his problem was." Demeter chuckled, eyeing Persephone before slowly looking down towards her menu.

She seemed like she was about to say something again but was quickly cut off by Dionysus rushing back into the room and placing the drinks gently on the table, a smile still placed on his lips.

"I'll be back in a few to take your order." He said and once again disappeared but it wasn't until he was completely gone that Demeter finally spoke out.

"He is so gay."

"Mom!" Persephone hissed, leaning forward so no one else could hear.

"What? He totally is!" She rolled her eyes but there was a sinister, playful smile on her face.

"For the love of God." Persephone was now rubbing her head, feeling like this was going to be a long day.

"Sorry, I just kind of said it out loud." Demeter was now chuckling, body slightly bouncing from laughter as she leaned forward to grab her drink.

"Oh, by the way you get to get out of the hospital on Friday."

"Awesome, just in time for that party."

"You're not going."

Persephone choked on her sprite as she tried to unscramble the simple words her mother had just told her.

"Wait what?" She blinked, her eyes watering from the lack of air as she coughed.

"I can't afford you to get hurt again." She was talking all sympathetically and whatnot but Persephone was still angry.

"Mom, I barely ever go to these sort of things, and Ares won't even be there!" Persephone felt the need to throw her hands up in the air, scream, shout, anything to get her mother to understand but Demeter just shook her head.

"I'm sorry, maybe you can go to the next one."

-o-

It was a long awkward ride home and Persephone barely touched her food, just chugged back to glasses of sprite and nearly caused Dionysus a heart attack when she tripped on her way out.

Finally, they got back to the hospital and Persephone lugged herself out of the car and said goodbye, assuring her mother that she could get back to her room just fine.

But it wasn't till that her mother's car had completely drifted off that she let her anger show, face reddening and getting heavier in her steps.

She felt like a six year old pouting over a toy but she really was excited about that party, she never really had gone to one before.

Trying to get past it, she noticed the sun was setting and wondered how late she had slept in today, it felt so short but at the same time so long.

Not even bothering to change, she stumbled into her room and flung herself on her bed, face smothered into her pillows.

It was so stupid how she let her mom run her life like this, just once she had wanted to make friends and maybe to get to know people at school.

"Something the matter?" She didn't even bother to look up, hearing Hades voice did her a world of good.

"Mmm..kinda." She mumbled back to him but then heard the weird faint noise of guns being shot, freaked out she looked up to see Hades, hair tousled and laid back, playing PSP.

"Where'd you get that?" She hoisted herself up, trying not to mumble too much into the pillow anymore but Hades just gave her an equally confused look as he held up the gaming device.

"Wal-Mart?" He raised one eyebrow and Persephone had to resist herself from slamming her head against the wall.

"No, I never see anyone coming and giving you stuff and I thought you were just in a recently traumatic motorcycling accident." She chuckled out and Hades nodded, looking back towards his PSP, the gun noises continued as he spoke.

"I had a backpack full of stuff that managed, only some things got crushed." He explained and Persephone nodded this time, looking back towards her pillows and shutted her eyes and unwillingly drifted off to sleep, the guns acting as an odd lullaby.

-o-

It wasn't till midnight that she had woken up and nearly smacked her face in embarrassment.

How did she manage to fall asleep while talking to Hades? She looked back over to him but to her dismay saw that the curtain had been closed and she uncomfortably sat up, still in jeans and old shirt.

She nearly jumped when she felt something vibrate in her pocket as she quickly took it out, trying to silence it before it woke up people and got nurses attention.

It was just a simple text from Hermes saying "Hi" and she noticed that he had sent it around eight o'clock.

Curious, she texted him back only to get a reply five seconds later, it was like he had waited and he told her everything that was going on during school, the drama, Aphrodite and how about she wasn't missing much, just a few projects that he had already done and two tests but that was pretty much it.

He then brought up the party and she exhaustedly replied back saying how she wouldn't be able to make it, explaining to him the trouble with her mother but again, the quick reply came and this time it made her widen her eyes, slowly reading it over and over again.

"_don't worry-I have a plan ;)"_

_**A/N**_

**I'm so sorry OTL – I had so many tests these couple weeks that I just had absolutely no time and I will completely understand if I get only like 2 reviews for this chapter, that was a ridiculously long amount of time to wait and I promise it wont happen again. If you guys are wondering – I usually update on weekends but today is an exception because I have dance comp this weekend and that's why im uploading it a little early. Again so sorry ;A; **

**BTW I have a poll going on my profile which will decide the main characters for my next greek mythology fanfic – I wanted it to be with people that aren't typically used like Eros or Thanatos so go check that out!**

**Have a wonderful weekend you guys! **


	9. Jackets

The next few days flew by fast for Persephone. Seeing Hades was a rare occasion now and even when they did meet, only a few words were exchanged until one of them was dragged off. This annoyed Persephone to no end but she did understand that he needed his space, after all this was a pretty dramatic part in his life.

Today was different though. She was determined to have some sort of conversation with the dark haired boy. She didn't care if he was finding the answer to the universe or if he was in the middle of a shower, she was going to speak with him.

Okay well, maybe she did care if he was in the middle of a shower but that was beside the point. Today was her last day at the hospital in the city and that meant heading back towards home. Sure, he lived in the same town but who knows how long it might take for him to come back. He could have some sudden infection and all hell would break loose and then he would be stuck here for another couple of months, wasting away.

Huffing at the thought, she twisted down another hallway, making note that she had already been down this way but decided to try again.

Still no Hades.

Persephone gave up and started to head back towards her room to collect her things but flopped on her bed instead. Her mother wouldn't be here for another hour and she felt deflated. Digging around in her pockets, she struggled to get out her phone but stopped instantly as soon as she felt someone touch her shoulder.

Whipping her head back, she couldn't see who it was right away for her hair had plastered to her face in the process. Her heart started to beat faster and she struggled to remove the bits from her eyes; maybe it was Hades, maybe he had heard that she was going away today and decided to finally come talk to her. Yet as she started to flake away the brown hairs, she noticed that it was not Hades but it was just as good.

"Hermes!" She gasped out, sitting upright and nearly flinging herself into his arms. He also looked like he wanted to hug her but stopped himself when he saw just how drenched he was.

"Sorry, you looked busy. Y'know lying in bed takes some serious concentration." He gestured to where she was but Persephone only rolled her eyes in return.

She felt so many emotions take over and she tried to brush her hair out of her face once again, trying to get a clear picture of him.

"Are you taking me back?" She started to shove her things not so gently into her bag and heard him shrug, his heavy jacket crinkling with the movement.

"Yeah, your mom said I could come get you, it's raining like hell though, do you have a jacket?" He rubbed at his eyes. He looked exhausted.

"Uh, No," came her lame reply as she got up, rummaging through her bag once more only to confirm it.

"I got an idea, come on." He started to move towards the door and she followed suit, hair bouncing up and down as she hurried to catch up to him.

"What's your grand idea?"

"You'll see." This time he smiled at her, beaming out sunshine once again like he always did when he was around her but as they got to the exit he started to undo his jacket to which Persephone froze.

"Oh, you doing it like those romantic movies where the guy gives the girl his jacket?" Persephone laughed, moving towards him as he finished the last button.

"Hell to the no! I'm not getting drenched again!" With this, he grabbed her and wrapped half of his jacket around her body while he shared the other half. It was rather tight but being so close to him wasn't all that bad.

Wait, what the hell was she thinking? But before she could truly understand what she was feeling as she was pressed up against him, Hermes sprang out of the hospital, causing her to hurry along with him. Two bodies in one jacket was hard to manoeuvre around in and she started to notice that he started to give her more of the jacket, shielding her away from the rain.

Finally they came up towards a small red car and he fumbled with the keys. After hearing the familiar beep, he dove into the car and she quickly did as well, jacket now fully around her and Hermes slightly wet.

"Thanks for being my human shield." She laughed, noticing that her hair was now mimicking his in the way that it was glued to her face. He looked over at her, cheeks red from the cold and turned on the car, shaking itself to life.

"Anytime babe," He laughed and quickly backed up, splashing into several puddles before speeding off towards the highway but as they drove along, she noticed that she didn't recognize this route.

"Where are we going?" She mumbled, leaning her head against the window and felt the cool surface.

"To the mall, I'm getting you a damn jacket." He took another turn and Persephone gave him a confused look.

"I have a perfectly good jacket at home, I just don't have one on me." She explained but he didn't even look away from the road, his expression was the same one he gave while doing a hard math question.

"Well, we are also going to need a bathing suit for you so…"

"I thought I bought one at the mall the other day." She looked at him but he merely smiled, that same dorky grin on his face.

"Your mom is bound and determined about keeping you from that party, which is tomorrow by the way and when I asked her about it, she got all defensive so I'm thinking she more than likely hid it on you or something along those lines."

They pulled into the parking lot and Persephone started to get that weird sense of déjà vu again like that time when she went out with her mother for food while she was in the hospital.

"Well why are we going to buy me a swimsuit if my mother is dead set on keeping me home?" She undid her seatbelt and pulled Hermes jacket more closely around her before stepping out of the vehicle. The familiar rush of water coming down on her once more.

"I'm going to sneak you out, of course." He was already out, rushing towards the mall and nearly dived towards the doors before entering.

"Why? So I can almost get killed a second time this month?" She followed him along and also moved forward quickly into the mall.

"Nah, don't make such a big deal about it, I don't know a single person who hasn't snuck out for a party, alright?" He shook his head back and forth, causing drips of water to fly everywhere.

"Come on, let's go get you that swimsuit before you change your mind." He patted her on the back and moved along with the crowds inside the mall, looking around at the various stores like a child would before noticing a Victoria's Secret store and suddenly shoved towards it. Persephone rolled her eyes for what seemed to be the hundredth time that day and followed along.

By the time she had entered the store he was already holding up a lingerie towards her that was a weird peach colour with lace.

"No."

"Please?"

"No.

"I'd catch a grenade for y-"

"Bruno Mars is not going to help this situation."

"I'd do anything for ya."

"No. I'll let you pick out the swimsuit though." With that, Hermes instantly dropped the lingerie, not even bothering to hang it back up and walked out of the store like a dog sniffing for clues and it wasn't long before he was diving into another shop.

"This is going to be a long, long day."

**A/N**

***rises from the grave and slowly puts on sombrero* **

**Expect another chapter on Sunday to make up for the lack of updates… **

**Keep in mind that there is also a poll on my profile for the next greek mythology fanfic, whatever one reaches 5 votes first shall win and the poll will be taken down so I can begin writing…**

**Senor Paperito out**


	10. A Wave Hello

By the time the two had finally agreed upon a swimsuit it was already dark, cold and still raining out. The constant buzzing of her phone was getting annoying since she would always have to drag it out of her pocket and reply to her overdramatic mother. She wondered if she was always going to be this timid after Ares…

The two slid back into the car, Persephone holding two shopping bags while Hermes quickly devoured a burrito he got at the cafeteria before turning on the car. It seemed to shriek and shake a bit, causing Persephone to type several words wrong to her mother and just gave up on the text – they would be home soon anyways.

This whole week seemed like a dream that never really happened, the hospital, the drugs and Ares. It just seemed very surreal and something that shouldn't have happened on your first time to a town.

Shrugging off the memory, Persephone looked over to see Hermes trying to brush the wet hair from his eyes and drive at the same time. She wanted to rip off his jacket from her body and give it to him but it wasn't going to do much good now.

"Happy to be getting back?" He caught her looking at him but he just smiled in return, leaning over once more to get another bite of his food.

"Yeah, of course. I think it was a little stupid how I had to stay in the hospital but it's all over now." Persephone fiddled with Hermes coat and struggled to understand why there were so many buttons on it. It reminded her of one of those military jackets or something from a video game.

"Oh yeah, if anyone asks, you went on a vacation to see your grandmother in Germany." Hermes did a sudden swerve and Persephone struggled to say anything as her head nearly collided with the window.

"Is that what you told everyone?" She groaned out, trying to stable herself and making sure her seatbelt was on tight enough.

"Yep, it seemed to work fine but I'm curious on how we're going to deal with Ares. I think he's gonna get homeschooled now and get some therapy, something like that." Hermes mumbled.

"Yeah, I was hoping that would happen. I honestly don't think he would do that unless he was… y'know under the influence of something." Persephone remembered back to her first day at school and the charming boy that was there. She almost felt bad and like she needed to go see him sometime, just not now.

Feeling uncomfortable and saddened by the topic she tried to think of something else she could bring up but honestly it wasn't that hard.

"So what are we going to do about the whole party thing? I can't sneak out that's impossible."

"Persephone, there is not one person I know in Asphodel that hasn't snuck out of their house at least once. Your mom will never know, I promise and I'll even be there with you the entire time it happens." Hermes paused and seemed to think for a moment before adding, "You also still need to prove to me that you have the guts to wear a bikini, I didn't find any pictures of you on your Facebook."

Persephone just let out a large sigh, surprised that he still remembered that time eating ice cream but just decided to stay silent for the rest of the ride home. The rain eased her and she managed to relax through it. She didn't want to think what might happen if her mother caught her sneaking out of her house. Probably ground her for the rest of her life or kill her. Maybe both.

Trying to forget about tomorrow she dozed off, hearing cars drive by, splashing the puddles on the road and tried to focus on something else. She knotted her eyebrows together, trying to think of something better but suddenly a name flashed through her head.

Hades.

She wondered what happened to him. She started to think that maybe he was ignoring her on the last day because he knew she was leaving so then he would never have to see her again.

But why would he add her on a social networking site if he really did want to cut ties with her? Maybe he wasn't ignoring her, maybe he was going through some weird therapy again or got lost in a motorcycle magazine on that day.

Letting the car slam her head against the window, she thought about how stupid she was for getting all gushy with this guy. She barely knew him, he just came from something traumatic and she didn't even know if he liked her back.

Sliding back in her chair, she felt the car come to a sudden jolt and she nearly slammed her head forward as well but the seatbelt managed to lock. She could hear Hermes undoing his seatbelt and looked up to see him getting out of the car.

"Sorry, babe. I just gotta drop something off for a friend." He smirked and walked over towards the back, the sound of him crunching dirt underneath his sneakers was loud enough for her to hear and she sat back up.

They were in some sort of ranch or farm but between the rain and it being night, she couldn't quite tell. She saw someone else walking quickly up towards Hermes, arms spread and the two hugged. She tried to get a better look at the person and she was pretty positive it was a boy. He seemed to notice her too because not moments later, he jerked his head in her direction.

The boy bent down so he could see into the window from where he was at and waved like one might do to a little toddler. She realised that he also looked oddly familiar but waved back weakly, trying to remember who he was.

Hermes handed him something but she couldn't really see what it was, it was obviously something dark or of a black colour, she got that much but everything else was blurry to her.

The more the two talked the more they both got drenched but neither of them seemed to care. What were they doing? Exchanging weed?

Persephone snorted at that thought, thinking that was kind of rude of her to suggest but kept a close eye on them both. As soon as Hermes turned around, she quickly ducked down to where she was before.

Again, the sound of his sneakers pounding the earth came back to her and he quickly swung the door open, practically dived in and shut it closely behind.

"Sorry about that." He fumbled for the keys and quickly turned the car back on, cranking the heat up as high as it would go.

"So, what just happened?" She groaned as he started to back up, being careful not to run down the white picket fence as he did so.

"Oh, that was Poseidon. He needed some clothes for the party and his got drenched the other day so I just gave him some of my old stuff. I have no idea how he's going to fit into them though, the guy's tall as shit." Hermes continued to back up, head constantly whipping back and forward before he started to move forward again and out of the driveway.

"He looks really familiar…" Persephone admitted and Hermes nodded.

"He goes to our school, you might've seen him there but I don't remember introducing you guys yet. I would've just now but y'know, it's late, raining, blah, blah, blah." Hermes swished his hand back and forth and began to drive back up on the highway.

"I told him that he better go back to the barn because it sounded like a cow was giving birth but here it was his brother sleeping." Hermes laughed, obviously pleased with himself but Persephone could only manage a smile, god was she tired.

Obviously seeing this, Hermes patted her cheek lightly, eyes flickering from her to the road.

"It's alright, we're almost home." He said reassuringly, smiling as he did so but then that thought came back up into her head.

"Do you know anyone named Hades?" She looked up at him, still slouched down in her seat and she saw the smile smear away from his face almost instantly.

"Yeah, he used to go to our school but kept to himself, was rather cold. Suddenly dropped out one day; we all kinda assumed he died or something. Well, at least I did."

"Really? He didn't seem that bad, he was actually really friendly." Persephone chirped up, remember he few quick moments with him but quickly stopped when she saw Hermes face.

"You met him? When? Did he have something to do with the drugs and Ares?" Hermes attitude managed to change swiftly, the engine of the car also started to sound incredibly loud.

"No, he was at my hospital, in a coma, he got in a car accident, there was no way in hell that he had anything to do with me getting drugged unless he can expertly sleep walk." Persephone started to sound defensive, talking quickly so Hermes would understand.

"I didn't know that, I don't think anyone does. He just sort of left." The way Hermes ended that sentence sounded like he wanted their conversation to end right there but Persephone wasn't finished.

"He said he got into a fight with someone, do you know who?" Hermes let out a frustrated sigh at this and just grabbed the steering wheel more harshly like as if he was shrugging.

"Persephone, I honestly don't know. He really kept to himself, I'm bloody surprised that he even bothered talking to you and it maybe was his dad, k? That's why Poseidon and Zeus live at that little barn now, Poseidon managed to convince his boss to let them stay for a couple of months till it all cooled down."

Persephone started to wake up more now, feeling that this conversation had turned sour.

"Poseidon, Zeus and Hades are all brothers? Why didn't Hades come with them to the barn? Why did he stay?" Persephone's voice started to croak and she realized how exhausted she was, desperately trying to keep her wire-like hair out of her face as she talked.

Hermes just did that weird sort of shrug again where he would let go of the wheel for a split second before slamming his hands back down on it, almost like he was frustrated so Persephone finally let it go. She slid back down in her seat and wondered why Hermes got so angry but before she could apologize she could already see the tiny lights of their town beyond the hills where it dipped down over the fields.

She decided to stay silent and waited the next couple of minutes in solitude, her thoughts racing about what had just happened. Hermes seemed okay with it as well because he had turned on the radio not a moment after, relaxing back into his seat.

More lights started to flash by her and she started to see the images of houses rolling by. Slowly she sat back up and she started to feel them turning. She looked over to see that they were in her drive way and hoped out of the car, noticing that Hermes followed as well as she headed up towards her door and knocked loudly, thinking that her mother might have fallen asleep at this late hour.

To her surprise it only opened moments after and she could feel a strong embrace enveloping her almost instantly.

"Oh my goodness, you're home! Come in, get changed and go to bed, it's late." Demeter was almost physically pushing her daughter in the house and Hermes still followed, hands shoved into his pants pockets as he lazily looked around. Demeter seemed to notice this and fluttered over to him as well.

"Oh, Hermes, thank you, do you want something to eat? It was a long drive." Demeter smiled and Persephone decided that her mother seemed to be in the best mood that she had seen in weeks. Excitement from her coming home, maybe?

"No thanks, I already ate, I should probably be getting back anyways. G'night, Persephone." He weakly waved and started to trudge back towards his car, hands still shoved into his pockets and Persephone felt the need to chase after him and tell him sorry but the sound of him starting up the car made her stay back and watch as the headlights drifted off and out of her sight.

"Alright sweetie, off to bed and then tomorrow we can try to forget about all that had happened this week, kay?" Demeter smiled at her daughter and Persephone pushed herself off the wall that she was leaning on and headed down into her room. She felt bad for not talking to her mom more since they hadn't really bonded this week but Persephone was honestly too tired to care.

Her room smelled like she had never been in it and the place looked alien to her. She stumbled over to her bed and nearly fell head first but quickly caught herself.

It wasn't till she was laying down on the bed with her jeans still on that she realized she was still wearing Hermes' coat.

"Shit." She groaned and quickly unzipped the article of clothing before folding it up neatly on her dresser. She kicked off her pants and lazily changed, making note that she would have to give it back to him tomorrow when he came to sneak her out.

Fuck, what was she going to do about tomorrow? Would he even come now from being in such a sour mood? Maybe he was just tired or whatever guys do. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she nearly jumped on her bed, the mattress bouncing a little from her weight as she slid under the covers. God, she hated all these" Maybes" but she would honestly have to wait for tomorrow.

"_Tomorrow"_ she thought and looked at the folded jacket on her desk one last time before shutting her eyes, feeling her head swim and thoughts race before she slowly fell asleep.

**A/N sorry I meant to update this last Sunday but the hotel I was staying at sadly did not have wifi which I thought it did but I'm back now! So yay! *happy dance***

**Thank you guys so much for the reviews/follows/etc – it means a lot to me and I'm probably gonna start up a Thanatos fic soon, thanks for all the suggestions though! I will be sure to keep them in mind when I create even more!**

**See ya next update! Have a wonderful week!**


	11. Decisions

Never had Persephone felt so intimidated or taunted by an article of clothing before but this jacket was making her want to pull her hair out. Every time she looked over towards it she would think about what had happened last night and questions would hit her like a cold slap to the face.

Throwing it into the closet had crossed her mind but she decided to let it sit there and wondered if Hermes was still going to come tonight.

Getting up from her bed, she dragged herself towards the kitchen, feeling the cold linoleum floor against her bare feet. Her hair was a whirlwind of brown clusters going this way and that and every now and then she would have to hoist her pajama bottoms up, remembering that these were the pants she had stolen from her mother for camp that one summer.

She never did give them back.

Rummaging through the cupboard, she lazily reached for a box of Lucky Charms, her fingertips just brushing the bottom part of the logo but failed to reach for it. Groaning out, she rubbed her face and attempted to reach for it again but before she could even touch it, a hand reached out and grabbed it, lowering it down.

Persephone froze, instantly knowing that hand did not belong to her mother. She kept her gaze on the cupboard, hand frozen like it was still reaching for the cereal box. Even though it was dead silent, she felt a ringing in her ears and her heart pick up in pace. This man was going to rob her and then shoot her. What else would a man be doing early in the morning at a house?

She slowly lowered her hand and moved her gaze towards the floor, looking at the pair of black dress shoes beside her. Confusion engulfed her and she quickly snapped her head up, looking at the man in the face and nearly yelped.

"Are you okay, Ms.?" He asked, lowering the cereal box on the counter in front of him. He seemed like he was studying her, watching her muscles for the next move she might make or her expression to see what she might have been thinking. This man was definitely familiar, maybe they had met already and she was freaking out for no reason, maybe this is one of Demeter's friends or something but before she could ask he seemed to already know the question.

"I am Hades' father, so sorry, should have told you sooner but I was scared you were going to hit me the way you were acting." He let out a soft chuckle and Persephone blinked, not really understanding what was going on. Heck, in the morning she didn't even know the difference between a spoon and a fork was.

"Oh um, does my mother know you're here?" She managed to mumble out, looking at the ground so her face would be somewhat hidden by her frizzed up hair, away from those calculating eyes.

"Yes, of course, she just had gone out to the garden not a couple minutes ago. If you want, I can go get her." He gestured out towards the back of the house but Persephone shook her head, feeling stupid for being so afraid of this man.

"No that's fine." She sighed and felt herself ease against the counter

"You are probably wondering why I am here. My son told me that you had woken him up from his coma and I wanted to thank you personally." A smile graced his lips and Persephone felt her head begin to swim from trying to think about all of this.

"I really didn't wake him up to be honest, I was just sorta there when it happened." She shrugged, not really liking where this was going.

"I assumed that as well but I think you did help it along the way in a sense. I am still forever grateful that you have brought back my son to me." His smile bloomed up once again and Persephone realized how much they looked alike, they both had the same blue eyes and features but Hades seemed more calm while his father seemed like he was constantly searching for something. Kind of like that look someone will give you when they are trying to pick out your flaws.

"How is he doing?" She bit her lip, although she didn't like this situation, this man may be able to give her information about what had happened. Hades' father slowly let out a sigh and sat in a chair at the table so Persephone decided to do the same, just far across from him.

"Oh, restless; recovering from this sort of thing is obviously tough. I managed to convince the hospital to let him come home so he's doing well, out with his brothers right now."

She wondered if Hades was at the farm where she was last night but kept her mouth shut, this wasn't really the time to be bringing up that sort of thing. She did have another thought in mind though but before she could even open her mouth to say anything, she heard the large screen door open and slam shut.

Persephone looked up to see her mother standing by the entrance way, dirt all over her hands and a yellow baseball hat propped up on her head. She quickly kicked off her sneakers and walked further along into the kitchen.

"Oh, you already met, sorry. I should have introduced you two but I didn't think you would be up this early." Demeter did a small laugh towards her daughter but Persephone just shot her a glare, not really finding this situation funny.

"Anyways, Cronus was kind enough to invite us to dinner tonight!" Demeter smiled, grabbed a pot from the kitchen counter and started to head back towards the door.

Persephone felt her finger twitch and saw Cronus' eyes flicker down towards her hand, obviously seeing what just happened and Persephone quickly shoved her fists into her pants pockets.

This man was frightening her.

"Yes, I'll be coming around five to pick you two up, a little thank you present for helping my son." He smiled and Demeter beamed at him, pot still being hugged in her grasp.

"Is Hades coming?" Persephone mumbled out, not even bothering to look up at the man in front of her. She could already hear his lips spread into a smile.

"Yes, of course! Well, I will leave you two to get ready then!" He stood up and graciously nodded towards Demeter and headed out the door. Demeter quickly waved and yelled out, "Bye!" at the last minute before the two heard the two heard the door click.

"What the hell was that?" Persephone stood up, the chair she was sitting on screeched behind her and her mother gave her a shocked look.

"What do you mean?"

"What happened to the big speech at the hospital? About his dad and whatever?" Persephone shoved the chair back in towards the table but Demeter just rolled her eyes.

"I was wrong, okay? He's actually not all that bad of a guy and I never knew that you actually helped his son out of that coma. I'm proud of you, honey." Demeter huffed, sat the pot down and leaned against the screen door.

"But the crazy part is that I didn't! I just stood there and awkwardly watched him sleep! Okay?! I don't really think that deserves a medal or some free dinner!" Persephone wailed her arms around, feeling her frizzed up hair fly in all sorts of directions.

"Honey, that's not true… I'm sure you did more than that." Demeter cocked her head to the side but Persephone just felt her whole body tense and her face flush.

"I'm not going!" She yelled out and witnessed as her mother's eyes grew to the size of Frisbees.

"You have to! It's just a dinner, Persephone! What's the big deal?" Demeter crossed her arms and took in a deep breath, puffing out her cheeks.

"I'm just not going!" Persephone repeated and started to walk off into her room. The linoleum floor felt harshly cold on her bare feet and she cringed when she heard her mother let out a large sigh, obviously confused on what just happened.

With the door now shut, Persephone sat back down on her bed and pulled her legs up to her chest. What was she going to do? She promised she would go to that party tonight with Hermes but now this just had to come up now.

Maybe she should have never interacted with Hades at the hospital. He was bad news from the start and if Hermes had the audacity to freak out on her like that last night then it must be true.

No, that was a horrible thing to think. Hades was just a poor guy, kind enough to talk to her and even try to befriend her while at hospital, it's just that she didn't know if she could trust him back.

Pulling at her hair, she began to rock her body gently back and forth, trying to comfort herself while coming to a consensus. Maybe she could tell her mother that she was sick and couldn't go to it but that was lame, obviously a fib. She stayed like that for almost an hour before suddenly stopping and reached for her phone, quickly snapping it open.

This plan was sure to work, her mother would never say no to this. Persephone grinned as she blindly punched in the numbers and pressed the phone up towards her ear, the ringing seemed abnormally loud to her but she waited patiently. Finally that familiar click sounded in and an even more familiar voice responded.

"Hello?"

"Hermes, could you pretend to be my boyfriend for tonight?" If there had been any sign of last night in his voice it was now gone completely.

"Absolutely."

**A/N I just noticed the work count was at 1,666 o_o" (well not anymore since im doing a A/N lol)**

**Kind of fitting for this chapter! – I will also be gone from june 28****th**** to june 8****th**** so I will sadly be not updating at those times – but once I get back I will be updating a lot more since it is summer break!**

**Tell me what you might think is gonna happen and see you next update!**


	12. Tacos

Hermes didn't ask many questions and Persephone was truly grateful. She still promised that she would explain this all to him later though.

The frightening incident with Hades' father during the early crack of dawn was still haunting her mind, like it was glued to her eyelids or it was if she could still feel his calculating gaze on her. Whatever the case, it felt like she couldn't get away from it. Could have been the guilt that was making her feel this way, after all she did agree to come to eat with them. Not only would she be turning down Cronus but she would be turning down Hades himself. Something that she highly regretted.

Nevertheless, he would have to understand and maybe someday she would make it up to him. She wasn't entirely sure how, she had no idea what he was into other than his infatuation with motorcycles of course but that was also another topic she didn't know how to deal with.

Heaving out a huge sigh, she started to rummage through her bags from the mall, pulling out various articles of clothing and holding them up to the mirror. She had to keep reminding herself that she was doing this for Hermes. She had promised she would go to this party with him and after that look and near fight they had last night, she really wanted to know what was up. The thought made her uneasy though; it wasn't something she wanted to ask while they were supposed to be out having fun. Especially with other people around to watch, not knowing if Hermes would pull another conniption or not – it was rather unsettling.

Trying to shove off that vision, she sat her clothes down by Hermes' jacket. When she looked at the article of clothing, she no longer felt her stomach flip or go tense with loathing; it was now more of a dull pain that hid in the back of her mind.

Even if she had ran off with Hades tonight, Hermes wouldn't have raised a fight or started something tedious. It wasn't like him but Persephone felt like she owed something to him, after all she did promise Hermes first out of anyone on what she was going to do tonight.

Puffing out her chest, she looked back over towards the door, still briefing over her plan that was about to take place. She was sure it was going to work but doubt was still lingering around her. Nearing the door, she slowly twisted the nob and clicked it open.

She lightly touched the door frame and looked down the hallway, trying to hear something but instead was met with silence. Her breath seemed abnormally loud and she could feel her fingertips become cold.

Making her way down towards the kitchen, she tried to act as normal as possible, slouched and dragging her feet across the cool floor, still barefooted. The kitchen was empty; the forgotten cereal box still on the counter – another haunting reminder of what happened this morning. Almost like a warning of what she was about to do.

Shrugging it off, she slid out back towards the garden, the blinding light nearly making her trip. Squinting, she looked around but sure enough her mother was crouched over a couple of plants, muttering bits and pieces of a song.

Awkwardly, Persephone pushed forward. She already felt hot and sweaty and her pajama bottoms were not helping the situation. It did not take long for her mother's head to snap up, squinting as she looked at her daughter.

"Aren't you hot?" Demeter laughed, setting a pot down near to the others. Persephone felt the need to roll her eyes or make a smart remark but instead she bit her lip, reminding herself on what exactly she was asking.

"Mom, y'know how we're doing that thing tonight? The dinner?" Persephone shifted from one foot to the other, wishing she had some sandals, the dirt felt unbearably hot on her feet.

"Yes." The way she dragged out her simple reply sounded more like a question. The tone was low, almost urging for her to continue or even daring.

"Well, I had plans tonight already." After that it didn't take Demeter long to figure out where this conversation was going.

"If this is about that party, we have already discussed this – I am not letting you go, Persephone and that is final." Demeter didn't sound offended, she sounded almost like this was obvious and it was more of a fact than an option in her eyes.

"It isn't the party that I am so upset about. You see there is this guy and I promised him a really long time ago that I would go to this party with him. He would be with me the entire time." Persephone chose her words carefully, noticing how her mother's eyebrows slowly picked up during her speech.

"What do you mean?" Demeter stood up, quickly dusting off her hands on her old jeans before leaning down and grabbing another pot, not looking entirely pleased.

Taking in a huge breath, she tried to recall her moments in theatre during school. Acting wasn't her greatest strength; her teacher had made that quite painfully clear. So instead of trying to figure out a speech, she just went with the most bland and simple way of lying to her.

"Mom, I got a boyfriend." Demeter's eyes went wide like saucers and the way Persephone said it sounded so calm that it sounded like she was asking her mother if she could have the last frozen burrito in the fridge.

Demeter tightened her grip on the flower pot and slowly looked around like this was some sort of prank, searching for cameras or something, Persephone wasn't too sure.

"Like a living boyfriend? One that breathes?" Demeter said it in a very serious tone that made Persephone want to hit her but instead settled with throwing her head to the side dramatically.

"Yes, mother, I got a boyfriend and I would feel horrible if I ditched him tonight. I promise that I will go out to dinner with Hades and his father at any point in time, just not tonight."

Demeter's face lit up, something that Persephone had predicted but wasn't entirely sure would happen. Her mother had been begging for her to get a boyfriend for a while now. Hoping that it would do some good to her and now that she was in a new school, she had been pushing it even farther; saying how it would let her become better friends with people and settle in faster.

Persephone didn't really like the way she had put that but the thought was more dull in her memory now.

"Why didn't you say so!? Of course! But as long as he stays by you. I swear to god, If I get another phone call telling me that my daughter has been drugged again I will move us away, job or not." Persephone knew she was lying but took the statement seriously.

"I know, I won't even drink anything I promise but are you sure that it's okay? Cronus seemed very serious and strict about it this morning, kind of like we were going to have a meeting or something." Demeter pushed out her lips in thought at her daughter.

"He did say that if it was an inconvenience then he could easily re-schedule, something about knowing the owners." Demeter trailed off, trying to recall the memory but Persephone was already halfway towards the house.

She turned around quickly before entering, smiling big at her mother but Demeter only waved her off, getting back to her garden. Persephone slowly closed the door but as soon as she heard the click, she nearly slumped to the floor, heaving like she had just ran a marathon.

It felt as if a huge load of stress had been lifted and she began to feel herself cool off. The only thing that was still dragging its nails in the back of her mind was Hades. As long as she did go to the dinner with him at one point in time, she didn't see the problem. Hopefully he would understand.

-o-

Demeter had brought up the whole boyfriend thing at least three times before evening started to roll in. She was glad that her mother had believed her and was actually supporting her into going now but still getting annoyed at the same time. Demeter had figured it out that her "boyfriend" was Hermes and was talking like a stereotypical teenager about him, even going as far as to asking her if they had kissed yet.

Persephone played along of course, attempting to get ready and chat at the same time, finally letting her mother doing her hair after a near hour of Demeter begging.

Now she was sitting in a weak char in front of her large mirror, watching as he mother tugged her hair this way and that, occasionally squirting some hair product in it.

"You do know that there's gonna be swimming, right? It's just going to get ruined anyways and maybe even poison someone in the water from the amount of hairspray you're putting in." Persephone mumbled out, checking the time once again.

"Whatever, as long as it's nice now and makes a good impression then I don't care."

"Like the impression I made on Hades' father this morning in my pajamas?" Persephone groaned out, looking back up towards her mother who was now trying to get some hairpins out.

"Yeah, I wasn't too impressed with that." Demeter laughed darkly, finally popping out a couple of pins and shoving them into Persephone's hair without mercy.

"Oh and I also messaged Cronus about tonight, he said it was no problem at all and that he could tell you weren't all that happy about it. Said he was expecting it." Demeter shrugged, getting out a few more.

Persephone felt herself freeze and instantly thought back to those eyes watching her. That haunting feeling slowly started to come back but she quickly shrugged it off, thinking back to the rest of her mother's sentence.

"So wait you already have his phone number? It's like you're practically married!" Persephone looked up at Demeter's deadpan face and continued to laugh, feeling a light punch to the shoulder as her mother turned back around.

"Alright, I'm finished with you – try not to jump around and dive in the water as soon as possible, okay? I want it to hold out for at least an hour." Demeter warned, letting Persephone get up from her chair which was a hard task since she felt like she had been glued to the piece of furniture.

"Yeah, yeah. I gotta go – he's already at the door waiting." Persephone mumbled, showing the text from Hermes to her mother briefly before attempting to jog back towards the living room but failing due to her leg which had fallen asleep from sitting so long.

She dragged herself to the door and quickly swung it open and sure enough, there was Hermes. His face seemed to pale when he looked at her and his eyes widened but he quickly went back to normal when her mother suddenly appeared along with her.

"Oh thank you so much Hermes! I'm so glad that you were kind enough to take her to the party! It really means a lot." Demeter smiled and Persephone felt her eye twitch while Hermes just puffed out his chest.

"Well, that's what boyfriends do! Because y'know, I'm a boyfriend and boyfriends do chivalro- "

"I think we should get going, I don't even remember what time we are supposed to be there at." Persephone giggled and started to walk out towards Hermes.

"Don't worry – I'll be safe, mom!" Persephone looked at Demeter one last time before turning back towards Hermes, who looked rather happy as he unlocked the car.

Persephone quickly dove into the vehicle, nearly landing on top of a bag while doing so but quickly put it on the floor. Hermes was already in the car with her at this point and hurried to turn it on, not really understanding her urgency but went with it.

Persephone didn't bother to look up and see her mother slowly close the front door, she just quietly listened to Hermes back out and drive off onto the road, slightly rocking the car as he did so.

"Sorry, I got nervous." He mumbled, his car keys clinking as they drove on.

"No, that's fine. I understand." Persephone breathed out and gently threw his jacket on the back seat, making sure he saw her as she did so.

"Oh, thanks. Totally forgot about that… That's also for you by the way." He jerked his head towards the bag on the floor, the one she had moved from her seat. Slowly, she leaned down, snatched the bag and suddenly felt how warm it was. She opened it up to see a couple of tacos nestled in the top along with some fries.

"Sorry, apparently they aren't going to have much food there so I decided to get us some Mexican. Not the most classiest of meals before a party but whatever." He shrugged, pulling down his visor quickly as the sunset began to blind his eyes.

"If you've already eaten then I'll just eat them both, I don't mind." Hermes sniffed but Persephone waved him off and grabbed one, carefully unwrapping it so she didn't explode crumbs all over the car seat.

"So, what's with this whole "boyfriend" business?" He raised an eyebrow, eyes flickering towards her for a second before looking back towards the road. Persephone let out a puff of air, knowing that she would have had to tell him sooner or later.

"I'm not trying to toy or manipulate you, I promise. It was the only way for my mother to allow me to come to this thing. I was supposed to go out to a dinner tonight but I knew that if I mentioned the whole boyfriend thing then she would let me go to the party without a doubt."

"Don't worry, I don't feel toyed with or anything like that. What was the dinner about? Something fancy?" He wiggled his eyebrows and laughed but Persephone found it hard to laugh with him, knowing that she couldn't tell him the truth.

"Yeah, my mom's work and whatever, it was going to be boring anyways." Persephone giggled weakly and took a bite out of her taco so she wouldn't have to talk anymore. Hermes hand reached over and she was more than obliged to hand his to him.

Suddenly the car shook and she was surprised to see they were on a gravel road. Hermes keys started to clank against the car like crazy and Persephone tightened her grip on her taco, looking over at him confused.

"Where is this thing exactly?" She muffled, trying to swallow enough of her food down to talk but Hermes seemed to understand her fine.

"It's apparently off in the country – out where Poseidon and them live." He replied.

"I thought this was in some rented pool or whatever." Persephone threw him a confused glance but he was too concentrated on where to turn. Occasionally stopping at driveways as they passed through, trees enveloping them along the way.

"Yeah I thought so too but they had to move it to some other place, now it's at a river." Hermes explained, once again stopping at a driveway before continuing on slowly.

"Isn't that a bit dangerous for when people get drunk?" Hermes chuckled at her words, leaning forward to see down the left side of the road before finally turning into a smaller pathway that led down and deeper into the woods. They rocked back and forth a bit before finally coming into a clearing and Hermes had been right, it was by a river.

Paper lanterns had been hung up by string from tree to tree, the smell of pine was strong and she could already hear the sound of rushing water. Looking father down, she saw people already out in the river, coolers placed around randomly along with people spread out on blankets.

They stopped by a little shack that had been turned into the parking lot, cars already piled up around it and Persephone was glad when the rocking finally stopped. Hermes shuffled around, shoving his taco back into the bag and shut off the car.

He got out and walked towards the back, the minute he opened the door Persephone could hear music blaring from the other side and people laughing. She sat in her seat for a moment, listening to Hermes rummage through the trunk and slam it once he was done.

Taking in one huge breath, Persephone looked back over to the river and trees before slowly opening the door, Hermes standing in front of her, a towel over his shoulder and a huge smile plastered on his face.

"When you change I gotta take a picture of you."

"Why?"

"Don't you remember?" He scoffed playfully, obviously enjoying the moment, "From when I said pics or it didn't happen? Y'know when we were eating ice cream?"

"Yeah but you're here with me."

"Doesn't mean I might forget someday."

_A/N HUZZAH! Guess what? I have a new __**Thanatos Fanfic**__ up called __**Consider Me Dead**__ – you can go ahead and look it up on my profile – it would help me out a lot! : ) I know I've been kinda slow for you guys but I really hope you liked this chapter & thanks for reading! _


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